The Collinsport Chronicles XVII: Dave Woodard
by Maryland Rose
Summary: Since that murder, both Barnabas and Julia thought that there might be a reckoning. But they did not imagine what form would that reckoning take..
1. Chapter 1

Edmund was adopted by Carolyn. Elsa had told Barnabas that she is Sarah reborn, and that while she loves him, she must now be Elsa. In the meantime Dave Woodard's nephew is in town, and is asking questions. There is a reckoning to be made, and Barnabas knows it. The question is can he keep both the nephew and Julia in one piece? Also, Derek seems to be turning Buffy into his bookie. Tammy told Barnabas that she is his direct descendant from a slave he sexually used in the eighteenth century, and that she does not feel like family to him.

* * *

DAVE WOODARD

Chapter 1

It was probably the hardest thing he ever had to do. He had to keep his voice lever, had to talk to Julia calmly and gently, without hysterics. Without just holding Julia in his arms, sobbing at the pain he had inflicted on her and which still ruled her.

But that was not the way. Instinctively he knew that. He could not lose control of himself. Julia had once lost control of the situation when she had been the therapist. Now the roles were reversed, but the problem was the same.

So he tried finding the right way to go about it.

"Did you know that Dave was gay?" It was not the best opening, but he had run out of good ones.

Julia just stared at him. Icily. He knew that look well.

"Surely you must have suspected something. Of course, he covered his tracks well. But still, a bachelor with his looks and charm, you must have wondered."

Julia went white and almost involuntarily spoke to him. "I was in love with him once. Seems I wasted my time with him, too."

A sad smile came over Barnabas "It wasn't that he didn't like women. He just wasn't turned on by them... And in those days it was not easy to come out of the closet. He wanted to have his degree and his practice, so he used you as a cover."

Julia shrugged "And I made him pay for that, didn't I? You and me, both."

"It isn't like that. Not at all."

"You are not trying to make me feel better by dragging him into the mud?"

Barnabas stiffened at that. "I am not telling you anything that he didn't tell me about himself. All I want you to do is to see him, Not with your guilt. Not with your need to hurt me. But him, just as he was, warts and all. The way he wants it."

"He seems to have talked to you a lot."

"He did. Julia, I don't know how to explain it... but he likes us."

"Likes...?"

"Well, actually he wants me to become George's lover." Barnabas' eyes twinkled. "He's not above a little pimping, specially if I am at the receiver end."

"George? You mean the sheriff?"

"Yes. He once was Dave's lover. He was underage by then. Dave was a bit careless with his math when it came to the legal age of his boys."

"And you call him by his firsts name?"

"He said that I could."

"Oh? He did?"

"He also told me what it is that you are doing. That you hurt yourself because you know that's the best way to get me."

"And what if I do?"

"Well, you shouldn't! If you want to punish me, do it. There are plenty of ways to get me without that! You know all of them. You know how to twist the knife in me, so do it!" Barnabas was getting angry now, more at his own helplessness that at Julia. "Get me, if that will make you happy! Just stop hurting yourself as you are doing!"

"Why not?"

"He knew that Julia was baiting him now. Waiting for the moment when he would finally scream and howl in pain."

"You know what gets you?" this time he knew that he might say too much. "That you got into your head that you are perfect! That you never make mistakes! Doctor Julia Hoffman never makes mistakes! In Wyncliffe you can get fired for suggesting it! You always know what to do! You are omniscient and omnipotent, and walk on water, to boot!"

She looked at him, silent again.

"All right, it was my fault! All right, I pushed you and broke you, and you have every right to hate me for it! But why can't you accept that you were weak, that you got into trouble you couldn't handle, and you got in deeper and deeper? Why can't you accept that in yourself?"

* * *

Buffy looked nervously at the traffic cop. If he were to suspect what she was doing for Derek...

The idea of Barnabas bailing her out of jail and then lecturing her was not one he relished... although if she believed Derek, there was nothing illegal to what they were doing. Yet.

But still, she did not like to see cops.

The patrolman's car passed her and she let out a sigh of relief.

She had yet to lose her fear of uniforms, in spite of all the advice she had got on the subject. She had learned to somehow trust George Brant and his men. But a strange cop was different. Part of her wanted to scream and run.

* * *

Tammy emptied another glass, alone at her table.

...The nerve of Joe... To say that she had been unnecessarily cruel with Barnabas, that she didn't have to talk to him about their relationship, but she if shed id, there were other ways...

Joe was a honky to his fingertips. Why had she become involved with him, anyway? Everybody knew that zebra couples weren't any good.

"I must have been crazy, to go to bed with him."

The trouble was that this town was so predominantly white that it was either an interracial affair or a vow of

chastity.

She pushed her drink away. It was no use.

From his own table, Frank Torrance studied her. So the place was getting to her, too.

* * *

"It just isn't fair." Barnabas complained under his breath.

"It almost never is. What is eating you this time?" George's manner was cheerfully truculent. Barnabas' constant complaining about everything sometimes got to him.

"Zeb King." Barnabas said.

"But I thought that the trouble with the VD clinic was over. You haven't gone after Jessica, have you?"

"No, of course not. She's from out of town... Did you know that Zeb is Dave's nephew?"

"What?"

"And Julia meets him socially. Zeb is actually remembering old times with her. What that is doing to Julia..."

"I...I see."

"I thought that I had finally put it behind me. But I was just kidding myself. As long as Julia's vulnerable I am still caught in it."

"And Julia's vulnerable, I take it."

"She can't even bring herself to speak of it. I have tried to discuss it with her but... but all I get is the silent treatment. She sits down and looks daggers at me. She suffers a lot, and lets me see how she suffers."

"That's bad enough... even..."

"Even if she doesn't get Zeb asking questions, eh?"

"Yes. Do you have any idea what might happen to her if that story came out?"

"With luck and a good lawyer..." George's voice lacked conviction.

"No lawyer is going to keep her license from being revoked, ant that's the same as killing her. And then there is Kenneth. He can be so...so unbending... if he knows that Julia was a party to murder, do you think that he would stand by her?"

"He would not."

"I thought of trying to talk to Zeb, of explaining it to him but... but he's young. He sees everything in black and white. She would not show compassion to Julia."

"Nor to you."

"No, Not to me." Barnabas began pacing the floor, as if by wearing out the carpet he might come upon the answer that had eluded him so long. "But that does not matter so much."

George looked at him ironically "Because you can take care of yourself?"

"I would not hurt Zeb. I could not. Turning myself over to him would be easier. But there is Maggie. You know what she did to me? Well, what about someone who digs up an old story that has her being sent to Wyncliffe? She does not want THAT to come out, ever. She would send Sabrina to him in a second."

George looked down, a bit ashamed, remembering Sabrina. "I hadn't thought about her."

"Well, I didn't, either. Dave pointed it out to me. And he said too that you too might be in danger from Zeb"

"Me? Why? I didn't kill him. He was my lover."

"Precisely. Zeb hates homosexuals. and he would never forgive you for letting you know that Dave was one of them."

"But how could he...?" Suddenly George understood. "The letters I wrote Dave... He must have kept them...and they are with his papers..."

They looked at each other, embarrassed "They...they were quite explicit, the letters." George admitted. "I was a dumb kid. He tried to make me be more cautious, but I would not listen."

They looked at each other again. Barnabas heard the wistful note in George's voice. He could not keep from asking the next question, knowing that it would lead to others.

"Was it bad when...when you lost him?"

"Yes. He was the most important person in the world to me. I think I told you want my family life was like. My home was not a happy one. My father was a petty tyrant..." he smiled predatorily "I enjoyed putting the fear of God on him when I got my badge..." he shrugged "In any case, Dave made me believe in myself... Then he was gone and the worst part was that I could not mourn him openly, could not let anyone know what he had meant to me."

Barnabas saw George as he had been then. A troubled youngster with sorrow etching his face. He could easily imagine his pain. He felt anger at whoever had hurt him so.. And then remembered who had done the hurting...

"And you can forgive me." he said with amazement. "even love me."

A sad, bitter smile crossed George's lips. "I couldn't believe it either when I found out. Not you. Anyone else but you. I cursed myself for wanting to know it. I wished I had never known you. I wished that I could find a way of hating you."

"I... I am sorry."

"Don't worry. I had plenty of opportunities to get rid of you and make it look like an accident. I passed them up."

"That was not the only thing you passed up. Dave told me how you passed up the chance to have me delivered to your bed."

"I have too much pride for that. You come to me willingly or not at all. I will not rape you." George squeezed Barnabas' arm. "Dave forgave you, and that's good enough for me. "All that remains is to patch up the mess left over. Which is no small task."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Louella was surprise to see how tired she got now. Just by going up the stairs...

Being pregnant had changed her so much...

She touched her expanded belly. It was getting bigger and bigger by the day... Bigger and more cumbersome.

She felt guilty thinking those things about the tiny baby growing inside her. She shouldn't...

She was becoming more and more irritable too. She tried not to, but she could not help it. And Willie's fussing did not help...

Pregnant women were supposed to be calm and happy about their condition. Glowing...

She did not feel like glowing. She felt... frightened...

And she had to go to the bathroom... again...

* * *

Buffy counted the bills before giving them to Derek.

"That should be enough" she said "for now".

"You have to keep going. You have to establish yourself as a regular at the racetracks. And you got to loses a few times too."

"Lose?"

"I have a plant, to get good money for both of us."

"An illegal way?" Buffy's hair stood on end... she did not want to be arrested.

"Not illegal, not." Derek lied. Well, at least there was no law against it, yet.

Buffy sighed. "I do not want to get arrested." she said.

She should not have gotten involved with a compulsive gambler. They had warned her. And now he was trying for the big score, with her as an accomplice.

"I don't want to. The sheriff knows that I place bets. So does Barnabas. They don't know yet who is my partner. But they'll find out... and.. we are going to get caught."

Derek saw that she meant it. That she wanted to pull out.;

He could not replace her so easily. And his plan would come to nothing. He felt angry. How dare she pull out? What was the matter with her? Didn't she know a sure thing?

Buffy rose. "I am sorry, but I don't want any more of this."

He caught her arm "Wait!"

She tried to shake him off, but he held her firmly.

"You have to listen" he insisted.

She tried to pry his fingers loose by using her free hand, but could not. "Let me go!" she protested.

He caught her other hand and made her face him. Suddenly Buffy's anger turned to fear. His face... he looked so much like Barnabas did in the few occasions when she had seen him angry... Derek's voice had the same sibilant quality.

Derek knew what should happen next. A quick nip at the throat, bending her to his will. He pulled his lips not caring for the kicks that Buffy was aiming to his shins.

He was halfway to her throat when he regained his sanity.

...He had never done anything like that. He had tried with Sabrina and failed miserably. No, he could talk people into a lot of things, but forcing them was another matter.

The only time he had been able to,, had been when Nicholas had him in his power.

He released Buffy, ashamed of himself.

"I am sorry" he admitted to her "I shouldn't have lost my head like that. But this is important to me. Can I confide in you, Miss Harrington?"

Fear had given way to amazement in her, and then curiosity. She didn't speak, but the nod of her head was encouragement enough.

He told her about the boat, about the Russian émigrés turning rum runners and how their boat had been sunk in a battle with a rival gang. How they had Crown jewels on them when that happened...

"They are still there, Miss Harrington." he said with fervor. "Nobody believes me when I say there are Russian Crown Jewels at the bottom of the sea. But they are there, waiting to be picked up."

"But..."

"I know. You don't believe they are there. Well, I am not asking you to put money in it. I only want you to help me make enough money to go look for them myself."

"Help you make that kind of money" At the racetrack?""

"That's where my scheme comes along. I have it all planned."

"And what is this plan you talk about? Does in involve doping the horses?"

"It does not. They can run all the tests on the horses they want, and they will find no foreign substances there."

"So how you plan to do it?"

"You have to keep silent about it. Secrecy is imperative"

"Well, you tell me and if it makes sense, I will go along, and say nothing of it."

"Fair enough."

* * *

There was singing going on outside, but David would not go out to look what it was. He sat in front of the fireplace, watching the flames with fascination.

He hadn't seen an open fire like this ever since he had moved to the dorm. Central heating was the norm here and having lived for a while in the Old House, he had decided he had had his fill of fireplaces.

Only now, on this party, her realized how beautiful fireplaces were.

Fireplaces used to be beautiful when he was a boy. Collinwood was a gloomy place. Not dark, gloomy. The Old House was cold, damp, and dark, but it was cheerful now. Collinwood had never been that to him.

For a long time, the only good memories of Collinwood that he had were of him by the fireplace, in his mother's arms.

...His mother. How long had it been? He had not thought. of her in ages. And now the memories came to him.

...His mother... The way she would hold him in her arms, sign to him, tell him stories. And he would fall asleep, cuddled in her arms.

"My baby, my sweet baby. Isn't the fire beautiful? Don't you like watching it?"

He shook himself... For a moment it was as if he had heard her voice...

But she was dead. She had burned in that fire as Vicky pulled him to safety.

He looked at the flames again. And he could not rid himself of the feeling that the flames were looking back at him.

* * *

It was time to start planning for the annual costume party, Barnabas thought, the one he gave around this time of the year. But this time he wanted something special.

Well, since it was an election year, he might give a costume party with a political theme. There should be enough material, like Bonzo looking for his former co-star. Or the Ayatollah. Or Brother Billy (He figured that Willie would be a natural for that one). Not to mention ABSCAM. All it would take would be sheets and some phony badges.

As for him, he would just put on a Nixon mask and give everyone some blessed relief from his Unknown Comic routines.

So was he, making plants when Zeb's arrival pulled him back to reality.

"I am sorry to call in this late." Zeb said ":but I had to see you."

"Well, I keep odd hours myself, so no harm was done."

The resemblance jumped at him. How come he had not seen it the first time? "What is bothering you?"

"Julia, Dr. Hoffman, I mean." Zeb rubbed his chilled fingers moving closer to the fireplace, which caused Barnabas to stoke the fire.

"What is it that worries you about her?"

"Am I imagining things or is she reacting strangely to me?"

"Well, Julia strikes people as eccentric, specially those who do not know her well." it was a lame excuse, all right.

"I think that it is more than eccentricity. I am the only one to whom she reacts that way. She does not react the same way to Jessica. With her, there is no problem."

"And what would you say the problem is?"

"She makes excuses not to have to see me. She always manages to be too busy."

"Well, she _is_ a busy woman..."

"It is more than that. When we finally get together, she avoids talking to me, and then, at the first excuse, tries to get away.

Barnabas closed his eyes in pain. For all practical purposes, Julia was shouting a confession to Zeb. How long would it be before Zeb put two and two together?

He looked at Zeb again. What could he do? He could not bring himself to harm Zeb, even without his promise to Dave... but still there was Julia to consider.

Bitterly he realized that it is easy to be self-sacrificing when you are the only one being sacrificed. Involve someone else and it become impossible.

He realized that he had closed his fists, that some part of him wanted to strangle Zeb.

He made his hand s relax and beat down the irrational urge in him.

"I can't understand why it should be so...unless... did you say anything to her to get her upset?" He did not know if he was throwing Zeb off the track or giving him new clues.

"No. I don't think so." Zeb's brow furrowed as he tried to remember.

"Sometimes it is difficult to tell these things. And offhand remark by you might be all it took."

"I can't imagine what that could be. Unless it had to do with my uncle. I said that I didn't know why she and Uncle Dave never married. I don't see why that should bother her, but evidently it did."

"Well, Julia was close to your uncle. And then, when he died,, it was very sudden.."

"Yes. It was sudden. A heart attack."

Barnabas ground his teeth and went on with his lie. "She had had an argument with him, just before he died. I understand that it was quite bitter. They said things to each other that they should not have said. So, when he died, she blamed herself." he sighed "the problem with heart attacks is that you don't know how much an argument can bring it about., so Julia has been blaming herself for his death ever since."

"I see... And my showing up brought it all back to her?"

"Yes. it probably did."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"My nephew is giving you problems already" Dave said.

"If it was me alone that he was causing problems to, I' be able to handle it. But there is Julia to consider."

"You should have talked it over with her a long time ago."

"Yes. I should have. But I didn't"

"You thought that it would go away by itself. But it never does"

"Do you think it is easy to talk about it?"

"It was easy enough to do it." Dave said acidly.

"It is easy for you. You are not the one eating himself alive. You have no idea how it hurts."

"I know some of it. I do have some guilt myself, you know."

Barnabas' face softened "about George?"

"Yes. What I did to him... I always released my boys when they grew up. but not George. He is still my boy. He is too old for that, but he is still looking for me, looking for a man who can take my place. He is still looking. And he's in danger from Zeb. If Zeb ever finds out, he will punish George for destroying his childish image of me...Remember, Julia is not the only one you have to worry about."

"But she's the one who will suffer the most."

"She is more vulnerable, yes."

"And it should not be this way. I should be the one suffering."

"You made your peace with me. She didn't."

"She hasn't made her peace with herself, either. She hasn't made her peace with me. We just have an understanding that certain things are not to be spoken about... And now I am breaking it. I know, I am not the most qualified person to deal with her. but there is no one else... I should be able to do more."

"You were willing to buy her life with yours."

"That was easier than this." he bit his lips nervously "I can see what guilt is doing to her, what it can still do to her, and I can't stop it."

"She is the only one who can stop it."

"It used to be that way with me. But no more. No, I still regret it, but for a more selfish reason. You would have been a good friend to have, and I know that this is the best I can get..."

* * *

Frank nursed his drink at the Blue Whale. He knew that he should stay away from the place, that alcoholism laid at the end of the road.

Yet, what else was there to do in this town?

And, anyway, when you thought of the Presidential election, and the choices given, you just had to drink.

Of course, he could go to Dear Abby, that is Barnabas. But he preferred to skip the lecture.

Angelique had left him. Well, he had pushed her away. They had parted by mutual agreement. But since then, there had been no one else. No one that mattered.

At the other end of the bar stood Tammy, holding her glass belligerently. Frank sighed. Another one who was missing the big city. He moved to her side.

"I am not interested" Tammy said as he saw him approach her.

"I was just suggesting that we be miserable together for a few hours instead of being miserable apart.

"Miserable? You?" she studied him "What have you got to be miserable about?"

"Plenty. I am a city man and I am being buried alive here." He gestured around. "Behold the social life we can have around here. I hate myself for being stuck here. I hate the fact that I am in a dead-end job. And I am alone. Every since Angelique left me."

"Or rather told you to get lost."

"Anyway, I am alone now."

"And you decided to try your luck with me?"

"No. I just wanted to talk to someone."

"Why me?"

"Because you have lived in the big city. You know what is missing here... Do you know that at this moment there is in DC a play with Gilda Radner playing one of the leads? And I am stuck here... We are both stuck here...

* * *

Buffy checked nervously on the traffic cops as she drove. If they were to stop her and make her open the trunk... she would never be able to explain Derek to them...

She drove carefully. Very carefully. There were still a few miles to the racetrack. So many things could happen. Speeding, passing a red light...

Nothing must happen today.

* * *

Sandy looked out the window wistfully... So much work to do. She had thought that the life of a private detective would be more glamorous than this... there were things that TV never showed you.

"In the dumps again?" Chris asked sympathetically.

"Yes." Sandy admitted " I didn't know that there was so much paperwork in the world."

"You should talk to Barnabas." Chris laughed "He actually believes that paper reproduces itself."

"He might be right." Sandy said with a shudder.

"Don't take it badly. It won't kill you."

"Somehow that doesn't sound too cheering."

Something in her made Chris understand that it wasn't just frustration that was easing Sandy.

She was probably missing her children and regretting her decision not to continue treatment with Julia, but her pride would not let her admit it.

For a moment he thought about talking to her about it, but he realized that she would not listen to anything vaguely resembling a lecture. She had had too many of those.

So instead he brought her a cup of coffee and sat by her desk.

"It is not so terrible." he said, smiling. "all you need is some rest and recreation."

"Rest and recreation?"

"Running on all fours. I get rid of a lot of tension that way. And for this you don't need Addidas."

Sandy stared at him.

"Try it once, and you'll see."

* * *

"Well, we are here." Buffy helped Derek out. "Right were you said. A secluded spot under the trees."

"Thanks" Derek straightened up "We now have to find a motel."

"What for?"

"To check in as Mr. and Mrs. Smith, of course."

"But..."

"Don't worry. We won't be doing anything naughty there. Not that I don't find you desirable" he hastened to add before she took offense "but I never mix business with pleasure."

Buffy looked at him distrustfully

"Look, in case anybody gets curious as to why, living so close to the racetrack you made the trip so early, we'll let them think that you came to meet your lover." Derek sighed. :"It is just a cover. I promise you that I won't stay more than a few minutes in that room."

Reluctantly Buffy went with him to the motel's check-in counter and watched him sign the register... If he was planning to take advantage of her... It had happened to her before. There had been John Yeager and Barnabas... If he were to try anything... she had brought a cross just in case...

They went to their room, aware of the well-concealed snicker in the desk clerk's face. Then, once inside, Derek opened the bags and removed what he called his props, like shaving cream foam on the water basin, and hair on the pillows and one discarded razor blade in the trash can.

"It this necessary?"

"Maybe it isn't" Derek admitted "But it never hurts to take are of the details. As for you, you can now take a shower and go to bed. There are a couple of good movies on TV."

Buffy complied with this. A bath would feel wonderful after the ride. She allowed herself to relax in the water, then when she believed herself to be clean enough, she stepped out of the shower, put on her nightgown and stepped back into the room.

True to his promise, Derek had left. Thoughtfully he had left the light on, and the TV set on, set for the movie he had recommended to her.

Yes. He had been true to his word. Buffy felt relieved, yet also disappointed. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was still beautiful, still desirable. But men did not seem to be attracted to her any longer. Being a housekeeper did not help. They probably expected her to be as dour and forbidding and Miss Hoffman had been... Being housekeeper to a vampire made it worse.

She realized that she had teamed up with Derek not for the money, but because he had shown interest in her... But that interest seemed to be strictly business..

Sighing, she slid under the covers. She had no reason to complain. All that Derek ever promised her was money.

* * *

So many horses... It was tough recognizing them.

Being reduced to have others place bets for you and not being able to watch the races made him lose touch.

He finally found the horse he had bet on, then turned to the competitors in the race.

He identified the favorite. As he moved towards it the horse neighed and moved his ears alarmed at the strangeness of the intruder. Derek patted it, talked to it slowly,. and waited until it calmed down.

He found a big vein in the horse's leg and bit into it. He wondered how much was enough to let him race, while weakening it enough so that it would not win. Unhappily this was not an exact science.

He let the horse go and moved to then others. He had to make sure that none of them was in peak condition, so that "his" horse could win.

He bit into another vein and swallowed...

Then he moved to another horse. And another...

It was too much blood. He had difficulty in keeping it down. Yet he made himself do it, thinking of the money he was going to make.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Barnabas held Julia closely, even after he had pulled his fangs from her neck.

"Please, understand." he pleaded with her. "I only want what is best for you."

Julia nodded, but he knew that deep down she was not convinced.

"You must not let Zeb know of it. Let me handle him."

"Nothing must happen to Zeb." Julia managed to say.

The accusing tone that Julia had taken stung Barnabas. If he wanted to, he could bend her will to the point where she would never speak like that again. But the thought was repugnant to him. The little he had done should be enough.

He deserved Julia's accusation. But damn it! Would he ever be allowed to live it down?

...Had Julia allowed herself to live it down?

For a while he was speechless, then he lifted her hand and kissed it..

"I owe you too much Julia, to ever be angry with you. Still, you should not dwell on it."

"Make it easy on you, you mean?"

"Maybe even make it easy on Dave. Maybe if you stopped tormenting yourself he'd be able to rest."

Julia grimaced unpleasantly "So now you are doing this for him?"

"In a way. He asked me to protect you and Zeb. And if you keep acting like this it becomes more and more difficult. Julia, I promised him that I would not hurt Zeb in any way. But that was before, when I thought that Zeb would come after me. I did not realize that not touching Zeb might meat abandoning you to his tender mercies.

"What would happen if Zeb would find out?" And there was longing in he voice. Longing to let Zeb know...

Barnabas swallowed. "I would have to deal with him."

"Deal with him how?"

"I would keep him in one piece. As I kept Oriana in one piece."

"He might not be as amenable as Oriana."

"Then I'll take the fall for both of us. And warn him that Maggie might send Sabrina to him. I'll tell him what Sabrina can do to him." he shuddered slightly "I did no find Parallel Time to be a particularly welcoming place. He'd better not find out how unwelcoming it is."

"He might not believe you. And how can you convince him to go after you only?"

"I will find a way to let you out of it. Trust me."

"And what about you? What do you think Zeb will do to you?"

"Let me worry about that."

"Are you going to let him kill you?" In spit of herself Julia was awed.

"If needs be."

* * *

Derek felt bloated. He couldn't hold any more blood inside him, but there were still more horses...

He felt the need to throw up. He should not. Not here, where the blood would be noticed first thing in the morning. He had to find someplace else.

He barely could fly, It was so far... he wondered if he could just stop by the roadside.

Not, it would not be ordinary vomit. The police would investigating such a suspicious bloodstain, thinking it pointed to murder and what not...And from that they might get the whole story.

There was only one safe place ...

* * *

The retching sounds woke Buffy. Alarmed, she turned on the light..

"Who is it?" she asked, grabbing the bedside lamp as a weapon, if needed to be.

Somebody was throwing up in the bathroom. More curious than afraid, now. She tiptoed to it to see Derek bending over the toilet.

"Is that you? What happened?"

Derek lifted his head, blood running down his chin. "Too many horses" he said "too much blood. And this is the safest place I could think of."

"Here?"

"It is very easy to wash off, the little that got on the floor." he smiled "For getting rid of blood the bathroom is the best place. Didn't you ever see a Hitchcock movie?"

Buffy looked with disgusts at the mess Derek made.

"I do have to use this bathroom myself" she complained "and now it is all yecchy,."

"I promise that by tomorrow this place will be clean again." Derek's high spirits rose again as his body found relief "Lord, I hope I don't have to go through this again for a while."

"What was it that you did?" Outrage gave way quickly to amusement. You simply could not stay mad for long with Derek.

"I was making sure our horse won."

'How?" she looked at the mess again "You mean, this is all horse blood?"

"Thoroughbreds all." Derek wiped off his face, then wondered how best to tackle the task of cleaning the bathroom. Not use towels, which would remain stained. Toilet paper which could be flushed would be best. He would pick up some rolls...

"You drank blood from all the horses?"

"No. I wouldn't touch 'our' horse. And there are other horses I could not get too, still. I have to go back for them."

"Again?"

"I have to."

Buffy grimaced. "Which means that I will be the one to clean this bathroom."

Derek smiled disingenuously. "Use only toilet paper and flush it. Not many paper at any one flush so that it doesn't overflow. I will bring more rolls."

He disappeared, leaving Buffy to fume.

Buffy started cleaning "With my luck, he'll be back upchucking again after I have finished."

* * *

Buffy wondered if all that playacting Derek stage leaving the motel before dawn was really necessary. But Derek insisted that a lover's quarrel would explain their leaving early, any noises the neighbors might have heard, plus any blood that might have fallen on the linen. He had a small bandage on his brow, and some cotton stuffed up his nose. The staff would wash the linen and the bleach would destroy any evidence of it not being human blood.

She had to recognize that he had helped clean the bathroom thoroughly, flushed the toilet paper, and took away the inner rolls, along with the stained paper towels and towel he had stolen from another place to finish the cleaning... Then he dirtied up with mud and soap scum, before telling her she could use it.

Still, the unpleasant time she had had with all that mess made it not too difficult to act angry for the clerk's benefit... And when she thought of him vomiting all that blood, he felt murderous towards him. It was a temptation to open the trunk and let the sunlight have him...

But she did not. Instead, she prepared to go to the racetrack.

* * *

When dusk came, Buffy was considerably richer than when she came to town. The memory of her night cleaning up was gone with the thrill of seeing her horse come on first, and with the strange feel of so many crisp bills coming into her hands.

So it was that when Derek appeared next to her in the car, she greeted him with a smile instead of the meat cleaver she had dreamed of using on him.

"We did it." she said to him. "Just as you said."

"You got the cash with you?"

"All of it."

"And now we split it."

"Fifty fifty" she reminded him.

"I did most of the work." he protested.

"And I was stuck with the filthy bathroom until you came back. And after you cleaned, you upchucked again, and I had to help you clean."

"Still it was easier than what I forced myself to do. Do you think that I enjoyed myself?"

Buffy shrugged "How about Sixty-forty?"

"That's right Sixty-Forty."

"Do you have enough for what you want to do?"

"Not all of it." he admitted. "But this makes it a lot easier. I'll find other ways to get the rest."

"At the racetrack?"

"Not for a while. You got lucky once, and that's enough for a while. They may think it is a fluke, and leave it be. If you get consistently lucky they'll come asking questions. Painfully."

"So what'll you do, instead?"

"I have several ideas... Look do you want to team up with me again?"

"Well, I like making money this way...And it might be fun."

"Well, I will let you know when I am planning my next scam."

Indeed. He had imagined Delia as his partner. But that was before Delia had decided to reform, and to reform him too.

"I told you about the ship, didn't I?"

"The one with the Russian Crown Jewels?"

"Yes. Do you want to be partners in that?"

"Well... I don't have as much faith in that. But I can help you get the money for you to look for it. As long as I get my cut."

Derek accepted it. As long as she helped him...

Then the nausea hit him.

He should not have gone back to the horses that one last time. He should have given himself a rest...

He nearly asked Buffy to stop, but did not dare leave the world's biggest bloodstain out there. No trail of blood to lead anyone to them.

He pressed his hands against his mouth and tried to prevent the reflex that would send the contents of his stomach all over the car.

"What's wrong with you?" Buffy braked the car.

Derek shook his head.

"If you are going to throw up, do it outside."

Derek shook his head :"I can't" he spoke between his finger. "I can't leave out there any tracks as to what happened last night."

As he spoke, a trickle of half-coagulated blood fell from the side of his mouth.

"I am not getting that glop inside the car" She grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to push him out.

"No!" Derek protested. "I have to do it here! It is safer!" He resisted her pull and heaved over the back seat, letting himself go.

"You can't do that! This is Barnabas's car! This in not the bathroom!" she shouted while beating him with her fists.

But it was too late. The glop was already on the car, and struggling with Derek would only result on staining her own clothes..

"This is the last time I do anything with you!" she shouted at him.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Willie ran, testing himself

Before long, he would qualify for the Boston Marathon. Maybe even win it.

Too bad that Louella couldn't be in it, but in her condition, it was the sensible thing to do.

It was then that he was aware of the shapes moving behind him.

"Dogs" he thought. And he went pale remember the dog pack that he had fought in Chris's farm.

He ran faster. He didn't care if that excited the dogs. He should be able to reach shelter.

He had been a fool to go out into the woods, and this close to dusk, yet. He knew that the dogs were on his trail. He almost could see them with the corner of his eye.

It was odd that they didn't bark, that they did not make a sound...

Dogs usually barked... but then coyotes were more silent stalkers...

But coyotes would not dare to attack humans. They had learned a lot of caution already.

Damn the biology lesson! What he had to do was run, not argue with himself about animal behavior!

He didn't remember ever running so fast. His heart beat fast, hitting his chest at each contraction. He was breathing with all his lungs and yet it wasn't enough.

And the dogs were still there.

He saw Chris' farm. He might make it there. He ran towards it, measuring the distance between himself and the dogs.

"Hey, Willie, care to say Hello?"

He could not believe it. He turned and instead of the dogs he saw Chris and Sandy standing there.

"You!" he said accusingly "It was you in the woods?"

"Of course" Chris said mildly "What did you expect?"

"I..." Willie's knees buckled...Lights flashed in front of his eyes...

He collapsed.

Sandy went to him. "He's fainted." she said.

Chris shook his head "He overextended himself and hit the wall. Help me get him inside."

* * *

That damned stuff would not wash. Buffy scrubbed as best she could the inside of the car to make all traces of her excursion disappear. True, Derek had helped clean the grossest stuff, and had brought her clean clothes, cat litter to absorb the liquid, and cleaning supplies. Still, she had plenty of mess to clean. She dared not think what would happen if Barnabas were to find out. After all, it was _his_ car.

And dusk was falling fast. She couldn't get done before Barnabas got up.

Maybe she should leave it for tomorrow. After all, Barnabas rarely used the car himself, and she could easily finish it tomorrow morning...

"What is this cleaning spree you got in? I don't remember the car needing it."

She jumped up, and turned to face Barnabas.

By then Barnabas had caught the scent of blood, even hidden among the detergents that Buffy used.

"What happened here?" he frowned. "What have you been doing with my car?"

"Nothing..." Buffy flustered " I spilled something, and cut myself and..."

He caught her chin.

"Buffy. Look into my eyes."

She did so, shivering.

"Now tell me the truth, Buffy."

* * *

"So you took us for a dog pack?" Chris was amused "and you were trying to escape us?"

"Why didn't you tell me that it was you?" Willie blustered "You scared me real bad."

"I thought you wanted to race."

"Race you?"

"Sure, me and Sandy have been racing against each other. And you seem to be in excellent shape. It was quite fun."

"It was not fun to me."

"We thought you knew it was us." Sandy piped in.

"How could I know? I didn't even know that you two were going together."

* * *

Barnabas laughed heartedly "That's the most ridiculous story that I have heard! Fixing horse races, indeed!"

"We made the money" Buffy protested.

Barnabas tried to remonstrate with her, but could not. Unhappily, it is very difficult to lecture someone while at the same time rolling helpless with laughter... Derek biting all those horses and getting sick afterwards!

Only Derek could come up with that kind of an idea. Only Derek...

He kept laughing in spite of Buffy's outraged protests until he could not do it anymore.

...Just wait until he told George of this.

The thought of George sobered him. There were some worries attached to what Derek had done. And maybe it was not such a good idea to tell George of it...

* * *

She was waiting for him. He knew that as he walked towards the building.

...the building. Something about it... Something familiar and yet strange. Old and yet looking new...

"Created anew each morning."

She waited inside.

The walls were covered with copper, red fiery copper. Carpets of red silk covered the floor. Scarlet silk flowing over yellow silk. And gold thread weaving through the copper...

"This is your home. Yours by birthright."

David turned to the voice calling him.

She was so beautiful... Naked under her long hair that kept changing color in shimmering waves.

"David, my love; Come to me."

She was so beautiful... so desirable. Why was he suddenly afraid?

"Come to me." she extended her arms.

Her face...something about her face.

He felt his feet advance towards her. So close... so desirable...

"No!" he screamed.

He woke up. He was in his bed, in the dorm, and some hours away before the alarm sounded.

* * *

Willie and Louella were as he had seen them other times. Working hard and struggling to balance their budget.

Only that Louella was getting larger. And there were other, more subtle, changes. Willie's arm around her shoulders was not only protective, but more than a bit stifling.

And Louella seemed a bit uneasy.

"Well, Barnabas, long time no see" Willie beamed at him. "What brings you here?"

Yet, as he approached him, Willie shot a nervous glance towards Louella.

Barnabas grinned inwardly. Somehow Willie suspected him of having designs towards Louella. And all that could be done was wait until Willie grew out of his fears.

"I wanted to pay a call to my favorite couple" He smiled "But Phillip and Vicky were not at home, so I came to see you instead."

That dispelled the tensions a bit and they sat down.

It was always like this when one of his sources became pregnant. Even if he kept religiously away from them, they still were uneasy around him.

He had expected Willie to be different, and in a way, it was. Because Willie could remember him from 1967.

"I saw Roger and Edmund yesterday" Louella blurted out "they seemed to be having fun."

Willie looked at her worriedly, but Barnabas interrupted before he could say anything.

"They are good for each other." he admitted.

"Still, it is a shame what Carolyn did to you." Willie said, heatedly.

Barnabas grimaced pleasantly "But in a way, it was best. That was no life for a child, back at the Old House. At least now he has someone who loves him and whom he loves back."

"But you loved him."

"Yes. But he was afraid of me, and would not accept my love. Well, I didn't come to discuss Edmund. I have another concern."

He told them what Derek had done, to the hilarity of both Willie and Louella.

"That's the kind of stunt you'd expect him to pull: Fixing a horse race." Willie said.

"There is one thing that worries me. You know what kind of trouble he was when he came here... He might be attracting the same kind of trouble now."

This sobered Willie "Yes, I know."

"Look, you said once that you think along the same lines as he does."

"He was my old cellmate But we changed, both of us."

"He changed the least in the respect , and you recall enough of that time. Just try sounding him off as to what precautions he took not to be traced. If I ask him, he will try to con me, and I would not know how to catch him on a lie. I think that you can tell if he tells the truth or not better than you can. So ask him. Tell him that if he convinces you I will not make trouble for him with George."

"All right. I'll find out for you." he grinned again, "It's been a while since I found out things for you."

* * *

Barnabas was getting back home when he noticed that Zeb's house still had lights on, and that somebody was talking.

Instinct told him to go up and eavesdrop on the conversation, so he did, dreading what he might find.

"So you insist that there is something fishy about Julia?" Jessica asked.

"I do. I keep thinking of Uncle Dave. How he died, all of a sudden."

"Well, heart attacks are sudden." Jessica said "And I think that what Collins told us makes a lot of sense."

"George Patterson thought that there was something fishy about his death, too. And they were in the middle of this kidnapping investigation."

"I understand that Willie Loomis was thought to be the kidnapper."

"That's what they thought at first. But there were a few things not explained. I think that Uncle Dave was on to something."

Barnabas, outside, felt a cold fear creep on him. Zeb wasn't stupid. He was beginning to put two and two together.

And when he found out the whole story? What would Zeb do? What would _he _do to keep Zeb from destroying Julia?

If only he could keep Zeb from asking questions. If he could convince him to let the past lie... He had one more card to play without making Zeb suspicious as to why he played it...

And what if that was not enough? What if Zeb continued digging? Julia would then fall to her ruin. And how many others whose lives were enmeshed with theirs? Could George escape? Could Willie? What about Maggie and Sabrina?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Are you warning me off?' Zeb was downright hostile even to Barnabas' mild suggestion that he were not to be concerned with a story over ten years old.

"No, I am not. It is just that it seems so... fruitless."

"Not so fruitless. I contacted Patterson in Florida and guess what he told me?"

Hoping that his face did not betray him, Barnabas asked "And what did Patterson tell you?"

"The details of the case in which they were working when Uncle Dave died."

"The Maggie Evans kidnapping?"

"Yes. You know about it?"

"I was here when it happened. Do you know how Maggie Evans is?"

"A local woman."

Barnabas looked at him with amused curiosity. "How long have you been in Maine?"

"Oh, about a year"

"And you still don't know the name of your Representative in Congress?"

Zeb's jaw dropped. "You mean that she... she's that Margaret Evans?"

"Now you see why you shouldn't be doing any digging of the past."

"But wouldn't she want to see justice done?"

"What she wants is no one bringing up to light that she was an inmate in a mental institution, even if it was for a few weeks. If she find what you are doing, you might meet her executive officer in charge of dirty tricks."

"Is that a threat?"

"A warning. From somebody who already met that person, and does not care to repeat the experience."

* * *

"Nothing is going to happen!" Derek said angrily at Willie.

"Barnabas already got the whole story out of Buffy."

"Well, that happened... but no one else will find out if Barnabas keeps his trap shut.!"

"The people Barnabas worries about have their way to get at the truth, and their methods are quite unpleasant, which you know as well as I do."

"Nothing is going to happen!"

"What precautions did you take?"

Derek told him, and when he was done, Willie felt that the had covered his bases. Buffy had not been anywhere near the racetrack during the night, Derek was not seen entering or leaving her room in the middle of the night. Buffy had not been the only one to bet on that horse, and there were those with larger winnings... There was no reason for them to look in that direction. And the horses were not drugged which was what they would look for... Eventually it would form part of the racing lore, about this come-from-behind horse, who broke out of the middle ranks to deliver a handsome payoff to those who had bet on him..."

"All right." he said "I've heard enough."

"You are not going to tell the sheriff?"

"I don't think that Barnabas will."

* * *

"I threatened him with Maggie." Barnabas told George. "Maybe that will be enough to make him forget about it."

"Maybe not. He has that much in common with Dave. He's stubborn when it comes to what he sees as his duty."

"I'll have to chance it."

"And if he does not give up, he will run into Maggie for real."

"Yes. He might." Barnabas looked up "This might mean that I will have that confrontation with Maggie that I have been avoiding for too long."

"You and Maggie..."

"Yes. I owed her, so I let her get away with too much. and now I have to tell her to stop it. I have to warn her off doing to Zeb what she did to me... You know, I still have trouble believing that she did to me what she did... That she would order it done... And if you hadn't been there I do not think that Sabrina would have been content with merely exiling me to Parallel Time."

"Yes. You have to do something about Maggie... but do you have any idea what to do about Zeb?"

* * *

David kept notes as the professor explained integration methods. He gritted his teeth. That stuff was a lot harder than he thought at first.

But he needed to take Calculus, so he was there.

"So you see." the professor said "Substitution means that a formula that won't integrate under any circumstances becomes one that can be integrated easily once you substitute the variables."

Pleased with himself, the professor laid himself against the blackboard, filled his pipe and lighted a match.

The flame danced on his fingertips.

"David... David.." the woman's voice reached to him.

David stared at the flame, how small and pretty it was. Then the pipe was lit and the match discarded.

David shook himself. It had seemed so real, that woman's voice...

* * *

Tammy stood up in the bed. She had not imagined it. There was someone in her bedroom.

"It is only me." Barnabas said.

She turned on the light, facing him. "What do you mean, coming in like this?"

"I did not want to scare you. I just had to see you. It is important. I have this decision to make and..."

"And you wanted to see your little girl before you did?"

"Tammy, you are the closest thing I have to a daughter."

"So what? If you had a choice, you'd not care for a black child. You want me because you can't do any better... If you had had one with your precious Josette, you'd have care little for me."

"I was young and unfeeling then."

"How much money did the slave trade bring you?"

"Too much."

"I am the descendant of slaves. Of the cargo on your ships. Just because you used sexually one of my ancestors does not make you a relative nor gives you any rights to me. You'd never have accepted Lavinia's child into your family, so now I don't accept you into mine. All your concern for me comes from the fact that you are as good as vasectomized."

"I have gone through so much..."

"And that's something I don't understand. Considering the way you made your money, why should blood drinking disturb you? What else had you been doing before?"

Barnabas made himself smaller "I could not lie to myself anymore..."

"So you agree?" She got up from her bed and paced "And now you come here and try to make me say that I am family to you. And want me to be your long lost daughter."

"I do not want that."

"So what do you want?"

"Just to tell you taht I am sorry I did the things I did. And that I am glad that at least something good came out of it."

"Something good?"

"You."

"Well, yes. But not thanks to you."

"There are so many things I wish undone.." he smiled ruefully "but now it is too late for many of them. Do you remember the time I found you weeping in the graveyard?"

She turned angrily on him. "Why bring that up now?"

"Because I have a confession to make. And I think that you are the one who might understand... or maybe... Maybe because we are... related, even if distantly so.

Tammy crossed her arms and faced him defiantly while he poured out the whole story about Maggie, Julia, and Dave, the only omissions being the ones implicating Julia in the murder.

It had to be Tammy, he realized. Confessing to anyone else would not do. Phillip, like Willie, would excuse anything, and Vicky would be more likely to react out of her own shock and problems adapting to the present than to how she really felt about it. No one else could judge him, and he realized that he craved judgment more than forgiveness.

"Who else knows of this?"

"Maggie, Sabrina, George."

"Why didn't George put the cuffs on you?"

"He said that I was not legally responsible. Temporary insanity."

Tammy snorted "More likely he'd say anything for the chance to get into you. Don't look at me that way. Certainly you must know that George is gay and has the hots for you."

'I know it. But George would never do that. Whatever his preferences, he's a good cop."

Tammy snorted again. "So it is temporary insanity."

"Do you think that George is right?"

Tammy paced the floor restlessly, feeling anger mount in her.

"You son of a bitch!" she shouted. "Why do you get me involved in this? What is this whole story to me? Why does it have to be me to help you bear it? Because you raped my great-great-great-great-great-grandmother? How dare you come to me for absolution? What makes you think that I am put on earth to pass judgment on you?"

"Tammy..."

"Don't Tammy me. I want nothing to do with it. You want absolution, go see a priest."

* * *

Frank turned in the bed.

"Must you leave?" he asked Megan who was beginning to get dressed.

"I have a business to attend to." she said. "And if I don't keep an eye on it, I lose money."

Frank nodded "Yet I wish you stayed a little bit more."

"Why? You are not falling in love with me, I hope."

"No, I am not. Yet it makes me feel... used to see you leave so quickly after you took care of your needs."

"And you took care of yours. You understood the arrangement, didn't you? I need sex and blood, and you need sex and someone to listen to you complain."

"I want more than that."

"Then you went to the wrong person. I am not like Barnabas. With me, what you see is what you get."

"I had hoped for more."

"Not from me."

"Don't you ever need anyone... that way?"

"I have Angelique for friendship, and men like you for my needs. You need a friend. A real friend.. And I cannot be it. Oh, I will be friendly enough, and I'll trade favors. But I am not what you need."

* * *

Barnabas watched how the logs burned. Why had he gone to Tammy? What he had hoped for in that meeting?

Whatever it was, that was not what had happened.

"I only wanted to say to her that I was sorry... that I wanted to know that she was not mad at me anymore."

"She was right."

He turned, smiling bitterly at Dave.

"She's the only child I ever got." he said.

"She's got a right not to be involved in this."

"I thought she would understand."

"Why should she?"

"She seemed to be the only one who could."

"Since I never set much store on your brains I can't say taht I am disappointed. What kind of game are you playing, anyway?"

"I have realized what I'll have to do to stop Zeb, and stop Maggie, and keep everyone in one piece. Everybody but me.

"Trade your life for Julia's and Zeb'?"

"Better than trading Zeb's life for Julia's"

"Well," Dave smiled a bit cynically "so getting deep-sixed by Sabrina Jennings was not enough. You have to find another what to do yourself in."

Barnabas looked up at him. "You know what I am planning to do?"

"Yes."

"There is no other way. If I am anything at all now, I owe it to Julia. If my life is what it takes to save her from Zeb, I am willing to lay it down. And I might survive. I figure that I got a fifty-fifty chance."

"Russian roulette gives better odds, and I still don't recommend it."

"I thought you might want my life."

"I have had you fall in love with me. Surely that's enough. Actually you want to die so as not to lose me. For you know that I will not remain here much longer. Georgie is keeping me earthbound, and so's Julia. They are both ready to release me. Then I'll be gone."

"I don't want to think about that."

"You will miss me. So will Georgie. And you will fall into each other's arms and make each other happy."

"No.." Barnabas protested. "not me.."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was a gamble, a desperate gamble. An he had to go through with it.

No one knew what he was going to do. Not George. Not Willie. Least of all, Julia. He did not want them to try to dissuade him of it.

It was the best plan he could come up with. He recognized bitterly that planning was not his strong point. He was not like Megan, not even Derek, in that respect.

But he would do his best.

* * *

Jessica King realized that it was late. She had let time slip by reading those files, and now she was alone in the building.

Quickly, realizing that Zeb must be worrying about her, she got up and began dialing his office.

But Barnabas stepped in before she could finish, and under his eyes, she reflexively cut off the communication.

"Oh, it is you, Mr. Collins." she smiled at him, a bit nervous "You gave me quite a start."

Barnabas stared at her, saying nothing.

"Anything wrong?"

He almost answered, but he didn't. He did not want to dispel her fear. No now. He needed that fear for what would come.

"Mr. Collins?" Jessica insisted.

He grabbed her roughly by the wrists and pushed her against the wall. Jessica opened her mouth to scream, but found herself caught in his hypnotic hold.

Jessica still struggled feebly when he opened his mouth. She gasped and he knew that she had seen enough.

He drank slowly while she kept her ineffectual struggle. Then the struggle ended and she was hanging limply in his arms.

He laid her down, making sure that she rested on the carpet, so that she would not catch cold. He wounds were closed, except for a little trickle of blood still remaining on her throat.

Soon Zeb would come for her, worried because he had not heard from her. That, and her reaction when she awoke would start the game.

He looked at Jessica again. She looked so weak, so vulnerable. He had to fight his desire to comfort her. Not now.

But he covered her with his coat while he waited for Zeb to come and take her away.

Eventually Zeb's footsteps came, and he was free to retrieve his coat and disappear.

* * *

"And your wife remembers nothing?" George tried to sound calm and professional.

"No." Zeb said. "And that makes me think."

"Makes you think?"

"I talked to Patterson on the phone and he assured me that all the girls that had been attacked when he was the sheriff, none of them remembered anything. Not even Maggie Evans. I think that it is the same one."

It took George quite an effort not to show his shock...

He was going to have a serious talk with Barnabas at dusk.

* * *

Why had he bought that box of matches? He didn't need them. Not even for smoking.

Yet he had put on a coat and gone out just to buy matches. And now he was lighting them...

Not cigarettes, David thought. It was matches that he wanted.

* * *

George looked very angry. And Barnabas didn't fault him for it. Yet, he felt mischievous about it.

"So you are throwing a temper tantrum again?"

"A temper tantrum?" George yelled, lifting his arms to the sky as taking it to witness on Barnabas' unreasonableness. "After what you did to Jessica, with the result of getting Zeb on your back, more determined than ever?"

"Yes, the way it is supposed to happen."

"The way it is supposed to happen? Are you crazy?"

"I am not." Barnabas sobered up. "Zeb would not believe my warnings. We were headed for a confrontation, him and I."

"And this will prevent it?

"This will make it sure that the confrontation will be on my terms, when I am in control of the situation."

"You think that doing this will keep him from finding out what happened to Dave?"

"I don't expect that anymore. He will hear the truth and make a decision about it. But I will make sure that I will be the one involved."

George paused, understanding what Barnabas intended.

"You can't do that." he pleaded.

"Why not?"

"It is crazy. It makes no sense."

"It does make sense. It probably the only thing that works. I know the risks and do not take them lightly."

"You can get killed very easily."

"Yes. I don't want it to happen " he looked at George sadly "Not until I have held Willie's child in my arms. But if that is what it take, I will do it."

George's words of protest died in his mouth. He could see what Barnabas intended and why it was the right thing to do.

But Barnabas could get killed. and he did not want to lose him, not the way he had lost Dave...

Yet it might be necessary.

"Now, I am waiting for a phone call.."

"A phone call?"

"Yes. From Maggie. I called her a few minutes ago, and told her what is happening around here."

"Are you crazy? Do you know what she can do to Zeb?"

"Only too well. That's what I am trying to prevent. I let her know some and hinted about more. She will probably now call me from this telephone that she knows has not been tapped.." he looked wistfully at his own phone "she seemed genuinely pleased to hear from me. And even regretful that Iris left me... I wonder, if in some way, she might be fond of me."

"I wouldn't count too much on any fondness of her part to save your neck."

"Neither do I. But I wonder if she hates me, or likes me or..."

"She uses you, and is fond of you when she does." George grumbled, "and gets rid of you when you inconvenienced her. That's when she remembers she hates you."

* * *

In the telephone booth Maggie twisted the cord nervously. What had Barnabas meant by telling her all about Zeb and his relationship with Woodard, and that Zeb had been talking about old times? Then of course, a veiled hint that maybe Zeb wanted something from her, in DC, but Barnabas thought that it could handled at the local level...

Barnabas had not been talking about political favors, even if that was what it sounded like.

Between Barnabas and Zeb King they could sink her. And Barnabas did not sound like he had forgiven her for his exile in Parallel Time.

She waited for the voice at the other end of the line, wondering what to expect.

"Barnabas? This is Maggie."

"I have been expecting your call." Barnabas said amiably, no trace of the bitterness that had been there in the previous call.

"This Zeb King, are you sure that he's Woodard's nephew? I don't think that he had any relatives named King."

"His sister remarried and her new husband adopted the child."

"I see. So he's the genuine article? Not something you have dreamed up to make me lose sleep?"

She sounded angry enough. At Zeb King for threatening her, even inadvertently, at Barnabas for causing it all, at herself for not having seen it coming.

"No, But if you want proof, I will give it to you."

"All right. I believe you." she breathed deeply "I would like to let you stew out this one, but I can't afford it. I'll send Sabrina to see what can be done."

"Not Sabrina."

"Look, she didn't really hurt you, did she? And you had been asking for it."

"Not Sabrina. Not anyone from your dirty tricks division."

Maggie laughed bitterly "Will you handle him as you handled his uncle?"

"I will not hurt him. And I will not let you hurt him. Maggie, when was the last time I threatened you?"

"It's been a while but I remember each and every time."

"Well, I hoped I would never have to do it again. But I guess I must." he closed his eyes, in pain "Hurt Zeb in any way, threaten him, or even let Sabrina or any of your staff get too close to Collinsport while I am handling is and you'll regret it. I'll make sure that several things come out. Enough of them so that you'd never be able to run for any office, not even for dogcatcher."

Maggie smiled superiorly "You would not dare. It might cost me my future. But it might cost you worse. Like a stake through the heart. That is, provided I haven't caught you first and fed you to the sharks."

"Maggie, I am already laying my life on the line, so there is nothing you can threaten me with. No, Maggie, accept it. Keep away from this and I'll make sure that Zeb never crosses your path."

"If he does, you know what I'll do to you."

"I know."

Maggie considered it for a few moments. "All right. He's all yours. And whatever plans you have, they better work, or I'll take it out of Julia's hide."

"You won't need to."

He hung up, disturbed by those last words.

"Well, did it work?" George asked him.

"Yes and no. She is willing to let me handle it. But if I fail it will be bad news for everybody."

"Not if I can help it." George touched his gun.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Her hair shimmered over her body... She was there. He could touch her...

"David?"

He turned to the girl seated behind him.

"What do you want?" he asked a bit harshly.

"Did you do the homework problems?"

"Not all of them"

He had been daydreaming again...

Yet she seemed so real, the woman with the fire-red hair.

* * *

Barnabas looked at Buffy somewhat disconcerted "Why did you buy yourself designer jeans?"

She shook her hips "They look nice on me."

"They look very uncomfortable. It get cramps just looking at them. And why should anyone pay good money to have somebody else's name stitched on their rear end?"

"You think that I am too old to wear them?" Buffy sounded hurt.

"I don't think that anyone should wear them. You'd never catch me in those."

Buffy shrugged "You think that I should dress demurely, is that it?"

"Well, there are more appropriate clothes..."

"You mean clothes that make sure that men don't approach me."

Barnabas stared at her, surprised by her vehemence.

"You think that I would not like to have a sex life? Well, I have none. And if I keep on dressing like Hoffman did, I never will. Why do you think I went out with Derek? I thought that he was interested in me, that's why! But he only wanted money, and as far as he was concerned, I had as much sex appeal as a teapot. There we were, alone in a motel room, and he had no interest whatsoever. I wasn't attractive enough for him!"

And with this, she turned on her heel and walked away, swaying her hips.

Then the doorbell rang, and she, back in her role of housekeeper, went to open it.

It was Kenneth Anderson, looking worried.

Kenneth knew that he shouldn't smoke, not in the presence of Barnabas, at least, but he could not stop. It gave his hands something to do. He was just too worried about Julia.

And this communicated to Barnabas, who did not remonstrate with him, but went straight to the point.

"It is Julia, isn't it?"

"Yes. You have noticed it too."

Barnabas thought about it. What would Kenneth do if he knew Julia's secret? Kenneth had the power to destroy Julia utterly now.

"She's close to a nervous breakdown."

"I can see it. But why? What could cause it?"

"It isn't your fault. It has to do with something that happened over twelve years ago. Something she thought was over with."

"What was that?"

"An old friend of hers died, and she blamed herself for it."

"Why blame herself?"

"He died of a heart attack. And they had been quarreling not too long before. They said things that wounded each other deeply. When he died, she blamed herself for the things she said... She took it had."

"And the friend was Zeb's uncle?"

"Yes. And this brings it all back to her."

"You mean that she still blames herself?"

"You know how Julia is. She keeps everything inside of her, and does not let it go."

"I could talk to her."

Barnabas shook his head vigorously. "No, Kenneth, I will."

"I am her husband!" Kenneth spluttered.

"Yes. But I know her for longer than you do. In a way, I know her better. I know what must be done."

"Why you and not me?"

Barnabas recognize the jealousy in Kenneth and accepted it. "I have psychiatric training and you haven't"

"Psychiatric? Why? Is Julia so bad off?"

Barnabas nodded. "Yes. In this I am not acting as a friend, but as Julia's therapist. If I ask you not to say or do anything without speaking to me first, I am speaking as a professional. You can accept professional advice, can't you?"

"You haven't got a degree" Kenneth growled, but in the end he accepted it. "All right, Doctor, it's your case."

* * *

Willie walked slowly, looking at the sidewalk, feeling sick.

That attack on Jessica. Just like the ones that had happened before.

And when he had told Barnabas of his talk with Derek, he seemed to have lost interest in it.

Why had then told him to go talk to Derek?

Was that an excuse to keep him occupied and leave Louella?

Louella... Louella and the baby... What Barnabas could do to them... Barnabas had attacked Jessica King...had his losing Edmund have anything to do with it? He had once tried to turn Maggie into Josette. Would he try to turn his baby into Edmund?

* * *

"Make sure you keep this safe." Barnabas handed George the envelope. "This is the only thing that will keep Zeb safe from Maggie."

George took the envelope "And who will keep you safe? If Zeb does not kill you, Sabrina might."

"As I said, I must take my chances." he smiled wearily "I started this mess. I might as well finish it."

"What about Jessica? Will you take your chances with her?"

"She's in no danger."

"You will keep attacking her to draw Zeb to you. What if you miscalculate and what happened to Megan happens to her?"

"I am in control here. I feed before I go to her. The wounds are just for show."

* * *

David lit a match.

Blue inside, red outside, and the almost invisible yellow outside all.

Had he ever realized before how beautiful fire was?

"David, my darling David."

"Huh?" he turned, surprised, automatically putting the match out.

He could almost swear he heard his mother calling him.

But that was impossible. His mother was dead.

He lit another match.

"David, don't be afraid, my darling. I love you. You know that. You always knew that."

* * *

Jessica felt herself being pulled away. She rose from her bed, as Zeb slept unaware of the call that came to her.

Propelled by the voice in her mind, she put on her slippers and a coat before she left the house. For some reason _he_ worried about her being cold.

She went down noiselessly, then opened the door and went out into the night. Out there, _he_ was waiting for her.

Soon he was at her side. She felt his strong hands on her shoulders, making her turn around and look into his eyes.

A shiver ran through her, anticipating the cutting edge of his teeth on her throat. But it wasn't just fear that made her shiver.

"Are you cold?" she heard him ask. "Maybe you should have worn something warmer."

But that was not supposed to happen! He was fussing about her, acting like a fond, concerned uncle... not like the tone who had come to her that night...

"Take me now!" she said breathlessly "you need me!"

He looked hurt. "No, Jessica." he said softly "there is no need of that."

"You need this! You need me!" she clung to him, staring at him fiercely.

He was surprised at the pain he felt from those eyes... He had been able to make women look at him and had used it... Maggie had looked at him like that at first. So had Megan... If he had not forced such adoration, Megan would have been spared...

He hoped never to see that look again.

He looked away at the house where Zeb still was. No light there. Zeb was still sleeping, instead of searching frantically for his missing wife.

That Zeb... He was doing all this playacting for his benefit, and he was not even aware of it...

And Jessica was catching cold for nothing.

She kept moaning, clinging to him. He could not bear to look at her. It reminded him too much of how he used to be.

Quickly he threw his coat over her and led her to the Old House. She kept pressing herself against him while she walked, but he made himself ignore it.

He would take her inside, and keep her warm. He would put the new wound on her throat, and then call the police to say that he had found her wandering around.

...Jessica could not understand why he rejected her this way...

* * *

George stared blankly at the wall, unwilling to go home, waiting to hear the worst.

"Why this? why now?"

"Don't hate her, Georgie."

"Don't hate who?"

"Julia Hoffman."

"Why not? She cost me you. Now she is going to cost me Barnabas."

Dave smiled indulgently. "First you don't have Barnabas that you may lose him. Second, there is no reason to believe that he will be killed."

"You said it yourself, when that trouble with the shopping center. He wants to be deep-sixed."

"He dares not get himself killed. He knows that Julia needs him."

"Julia! Her again! I need him too, don't I?"

Dave looked at George severely "Don't get ideas about Julia. I stopped you once. And that should be enough."

"He's going to get himself killed. You don't know the way his mind works."

"I have a good idea." Dave said dryly.

"No, you don't. He's probably reliving the 1967 episode. Maybe at this moment he sees Maggie in Jessica, and you in Zeb. I have tried to tell him that he does not owe it to you to get himself killed, but he does not listen."

"He's a practicing psychologist. You should have more faith in his professional judgment."

"I know. He's playing Zeb to put him where he wants him. But where does he want him? And then, he's threatening Zeb' wife. Zeb might just kill him to protect her before he even gets halfway to where Barnabas wants him. Dave, I don't want to lose him."

"You won't lose him. I promise you that. Maybe you'll even have him for real."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"I owe you much." Zeb said to Barnabas "It if had not been for you..."

"Anyone would have done the same."

"You only saw her? No one else?"

"No one else. It was quite dark, and I would not have seen her, if it were not for her light clothing."

"That's too back" Zeb admitted "because we might be able to catch the one who did this to her. And the one who did the attacks years ago."

"You still think it is the same one?"

"Yes. And the same one who kidnapped Maggie Evans" Zeb lowered his voice "Even if we are not supposed to talk about that."

"Just make sure that your wife does not disappear the way Maggie Evans did."

For a moment it seemed to Zeb that he had received a warning, but a quick look at Barnabas disingenuous expression dispelled the notion.

He stayed on a little longer and then left.

Barnabas looked at Buffy, who had been watching this exchange.

"What are you trying to do?" She asked, some fear in her voice.

"It is something that must be done. Don't worry about Jessica. She'll be fine."

"What about you?"

Barnabas shrugged "It must be done. Don't worry. You are provided for it anything happens to me."

* * *

"David. David..."

She was calling him again.

He felt that he knew her. He had seen her before, heard her voice...

Who was she?

He knew now that it was not a dream. If he had any sense, he'd call Barnabas and ask for help.

But he could not will himself to do it.

He knew that, as he knew that he could not keep from lighting match after match.

He needed to watch how matches burned. He needed to do it now. Look at the flame and find _her_ face in it...

* * *

George found Barnabas in a deep depression.

"President Reagan" Barnabas said with despair.. "How? Why?"

George shook his head. "I know. But look on the bring side. There will be elections again. In four years we might be able to kick Regan out."

Barnabas shook his head.

"I guess this means that the political costume party is cancelled."

"I could not go along with it. How could we have done so badly? They butchered McGovern, and Bayh, and Church, and Magnuson... How could they get away with it?"

George sat down "Don't go on saying that, or I'll end up depressed too."

"Be my guest" Barnabas pointed to the liquor cabinet. "You can get drunk, is that's what you want."

"No. I want to know if you still want to go on with what you have planned."

"What choice do I have?" he smiled wearily "There is not point in arguing the question ever again. Yes, I realize that I can get killed. But when I think of the next four years, it seems an attractive proposition."

"All right. I will not try talking you out of it. It would do no good, anyway. What are your immediate plans?"

"Julia insists on going to Wyncliffe in a couple of days and I'll have to go with her. I don't dare to leave her alone. At least when I am around, she has something to do, mainly cut me up. So I'll have to make arrangements for Jessica. And now, I have to go submit myself to Julia's abuse."

* * *

She felt so tired.

It had been easy to move those cardboard boxes a few weeks ago. But now she was out of breath.

She was dizzy, and bloated, and about to throw up... and each day was worse.

She would get heavier and weaker each day. And Willie would continue to smother her, and acting even stranger still...

Bloated... that word stuck in her mind... she had never looked so fat. Her mother had looked like that, and that was why her father had left them. She had always prided herself on her appearance, determined not to suffer her mother's fate.. But now...

This... this thing inside her was doing this to her!

It was her baby, she thought with remorse... she was calling it a thing, her own baby. How could she?

She sat down, putting her head between her knees until the nausea passed. She was scared.

* * *

Julia sighed. If Zeb should ever suspect, if he should ever ask the right question? Zeb had not done so, yet...

"Zeb, your uncle was poisoned, and the poison came from my medicine cabinet."

But she could not say it. Barnabas had made sure of that much.

But Zeb was a doctor himself. He knew what drugs could be used to simulate a heart attack. Would know that only another doctor would know of them or have access to them...

"Julia" Barnabas came into the room "you still can't let go." he shook his head. "Between Zeb and I, we are tearing you apart."

She said nothing to him. Just looked at him, her eyes filled with bitterness.

"Zeb hasn't pressed you for details, yet? Maybe in Wyncliffe you'll get some peace and quiet."

"But not from you, evidently" Julia said slowly "unless I can make sure you cannot get into my room. It can be done. Or I can go down to the cellar and kill you. I have wondered why I did not do it before. Why I don't do it now."

Because she needed someone to hurt... Barnabas knew better than to say that aloud.

"Are you worried that I will tell him the truth?"

"I am worried about your being hurt. I am worried about the price I might have to pay. No, not Zeb's life. I can't do it, even if I wanted."

"You could easily, in the past."

"Too easily. I don't want... ever again to go through that. Julia, I have a plan to keep both of you in one piece. If it goes wrong, the worse that will happen is that he will kill me. He will let you out of it because I will have made it look like you were an innocent victim." he flinched when he saw her reaction to this, but continued "Julia, I know that it does not begin to pay you back for what I put you through. If anything happens to me, I want to enjoy your freedom. Put this behind you. For your sake." he took her hands "Cold and cynical as it may seem, do it. Let Dave go. That's what he wants from you. He wants you to set him free."

"I don't believe you." Julia said. "And I never will."

"It is true, Julia. I don't plead for myself. But he has a right to go his own way. He has a right to find peace. And you have a right too. " he took her clenched hand and opened it. "You have a right to be free of it."

"I only have a right to be punished, ad to punish you for it."

* * *

"Are you all right?" Zeb asked with concern.

Jessica didn't answer. Her eyes were remote, looking to some point in space well beyond him.

Looking, maybe to the... creature that had done this to her.

Zeb did not know when he had begun suspecting the supernatural. But now the thought had lodged itself in his mind and would not leave him.

It was all right to say that there were no such things as vampire. But when your wife was like this, gliding along as if listening to a voice he could not hear, while the twin wounds were at her throat...

Jessica heard Zeb behind her. But it was so far away... and then HE had said that Zeb had nothing to worry about.

But what had _he_ said? She remembered his arm around her , and the mug of hot coffee he had thrust in her hand. And all the while he was talking... talking endlessly while she waited for his touch on her throat.

It had come at the end... but she sensed that it was not something that he truly wanted done. It was because of Zeb, nothing more, that he had done it.

She knew that he was using her as a pawn in a contest he was holding with Zeb. Somewhere in her there was anger over this.

And then the other things he had said to her. Gentle, sad things that he had told, and which she barely remembered.

Zeb continued watching her.

"Take care she does not disappear like Maggie Evans did"

Why did he feel such bitterness at Barnabas' words? It was a warning said in friendship... Why did he insist in believing it was a threat?

Maybe because he had also warned him about Representative Evans' anger.

Yet...

Barnabas had come from England shortly before the attacks had begun. And then Maggie had disappeared.. and then Uncle Dave had died.

What was he thinking? It was crazy. Hadn't he seen him tending to Jessica when he had come pick her up at the Old House? I could not fake that concern. There was no mistaking his expression as he bent over Jessica.

He was mildly eccentric, nothing more. Just because he lived in a run-down house with a mysterious housekeeper... and that housekeeper's mystery was just her passion for horses...

No, it was crazy

* * *

"You want us to hold her here?" Phillip was uneasy about the prospect of being a party to a kidnapping.

"It will be only until I return from Wyncliffe. I promise you that there won't be any trouble. At worst, I can make it look that you were forced into I."

"But why us?

"I could not think of anyone else."

"Willie?"

"No. It might bring him back too many bad memories. " he sighed. "I know it is bringing back mine, and I hate it."

"And we are available."

"And can use some extra money" Barnabas smiled gently "I just want her to be safe. And she'll be in a trance, so you won't have to worry about using force on her."

"But why? Can you tell us why do it at all?"

"It is a private matter between me and Zeb."

Phillip crossed his arms. "Barnabas, if you are going to use our house the least you can do is to tell us both the truth. Vicky should also hear this."

Barnabas looked at Phillip. He was adamant about it. He considered forcing his will on him, but the prospect depressed him. Too many bad memories already. He did not want to trigger any more if he could avoid it."

"All right, call Vicky, and I'll tell you all about it."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

He never thought that he could speak of it so easily. Yes, he could do it with George, and to a certain extent with Julia. But they already knew the story.

But to Vicky...

Vicky had gone pale as he confessed, but said nothing. Was she remembering how she had said that she would never forgive the one who killed Dave? Or was she just remembering the days when she loved Burke and hoped to marry him?

"And you want to make things right for the nephew how?" Phillip asked, "You only seem to be making it worse. Why don't you just claim temporary insanity? Being locked in that coffin certainly caused it."

"I am trying some shock therapy on Zeb." Barnabas said softly "there are too many innocent people that I want to spare: Julia, Xavier, George..."

"Julia isn't precisely innocent" Vicky said.

"She shouldn't have to go through this. She deserved better."

Vicky's face closed. Barnabas could see that she hurt. Just as she had come to terms with him and what he was, he had shown her a side of himself that she half-suspected, but never admitted.

"He was a fine man." she said, meaning to say something else, but not sure what that should be.

"Yes. He was. I wish things were different."

"You wish now?" Vicky's voice was cold.

"Darling, let it go." Phillip put his hand on her shoulder. "It has been over ten years, and he wasn't responsible for his actions."

"No, Phillip, let her speak." Barnabas said with a sad smile "you must remember that for her it is only yesterday. She still has to get used to it."

"But..."

"Remember how shaken you were when you found out about Nixon?"

Phillip grinned sheepishly, as he remembered Roger and the rest of it.

"You were the one who kidnapped Maggie" Vicky continued. "As you want to kidnap this Jessica. Will you drive her mad too?"

"No. It won't be the same at all, though it might look like it to Zeb. Look, it is either bring her here, or continue luring her outside, and risk her catching cold. I don't want to endanger her health in any way." he lowered his eyes. "I don't want to... to take blood from her while she looks at me with that expression in her face. Please, Phillip, say that you'll take her in."

Phillip sighed, throwing up his arms. "You know that I owe you too much to say no to you. All right, bring her here. With one condition."

"That I leave you and Vicky in the clear by leaving very visible wounds in your throats?"

"Yes. If it goes wrong, we want to be able to claim we were forced into it."

"I will not have it any other way."

* * *

Sweat covered his body as he awoke.

It was the woman again. She had no name yet. none that he could discover, but he knew her. The one with the fiery hair and hidden face. She called him again and again, and when he woke up, he had this compulsion to burn matches...

She was beautiful, desirable... but in her presence, all he could feel was fear. There was something very _wrong_ about her.

He could not do without sleeping. And when he slept, he met her in his dreams... and he could not say that they were only dreams. His experiences in the past told him that the woman was real, that the threat was real...

And no way to ask Barnabas for help

Then, with automatic movements, he took his box of matches, took one of them, lighted it and watched the flame dance on his fingertips... dance like the flaming hair of that faceless woman.

* * *

..Just a few more days... Barnabas thought, looking at the fire. A few more days of life if he had miscalculated with Zeb. Barely time to put his affairs in order and say goodbye.

It could easily be the end of him.

He would never hold Willie's child in his arms. That was the worst of it... Not any child of Vicky's...

And there was something else he had to do.

"Buffy?" he called.

Buffy came in, somewhat sleepily. Lately Barnabas had for some reason or other asked her to keep him company later and later, and complying with it was leaving her tired.

"Anything you need?" she asked.

"Yes." she smiled, sadly "somebody to talk to. Please sit by me and be patient."

There was such sadness in his eyes that her complaint died on her lips. She just sat down at his side and he put an arm around her.

"It is good of you to keep me company" Barnabas said "I need to know that I am not alone in here.

Buffy nodded and allowed Barnabas to place her head against his chest.

"There was anger in Vicky's eyes" he said. "for her, it is still yesterday, and I can see how it hurts... if I only knew that her anger will abate, and will forgive me, even a little bit...

"I do not see why she would not understand" Buffy said. "You have been nothing but good to her."

"Not at first."

"You weren't good to me at first. But I know what I owe you... even your not telling the sheriff about what Derek and I did."

Barnabas smiled at that. "I hope you won't get more involved with any of his schemes in the future."

"Well..." Buffy was reluctant to concur.

"Just remember that he makes a living relieving other people of their money. Don't be his mark."

"I'll try."

"Buffy, there is something going on. It is serious. It does not involve you, directly I mean."

"Does it have to do with the woman you brought in a couple of nights ago? The one you told her husband you found wandering about? I saw her throat but I did not want to say anything...

"Yes. It has to do with her. It is serious, Buffy. I might not make it. Don't interrupt me. " he gave her an envelope "These are identity papers that you will need to establish yourself anywhere. If I do not make it, they will allow you to start a new life. I have left you some money. Not much, since my finances are not what they should be. If Liz wasn't paying for David's tuition, I could not send him to college... And since Iris left I have trouble balancing my budget... In any case, these papers give you an identity, and the means to start over. If you need any more papers, contact Megan Graham. She agreed to give you all you need. And ask George for help. I know, he wears an uniform, but still he is a good guy and wants to help you."

Buffy accepted the documents. "You didn't have to..."

"I had to. I could have done it earlier, but I was afraid that you'd leave me."

"You want me to stay with you?"

"Too many people have left me. Some wanted to. Some had no other choice. And I miss them all. Please stay with me, Buffy, until this is over."

"You will make it." Buffy tried to reassure him.

He hugged her. "I wish I had your confidence."

* * *

Willie stood near the door, looking at it with nervous eyes.

If Louella tried to leave... if Barnabas tried to call her to him, he would stop her, by force if it need be. He would protect his wife and child.

Even if it made her angry. She would understand later.

But she didn't. She knew why Willie had posted himself there. He meant to keep her a prisoner.

Anxiously she rubbed the chain that hung from her neck If was not Beth's locket. She was not sure what it was now. But she certainly wished it were.

She wished she was somebody else. She wished she was not pregnant. She wished she was not married to Willie...

* * *

Barnabas wished he did not have to do it. It was too much like that time...

Yet, he had committed himself to this course of action. Zeb and him were heading for a showdown. And it better come before Julia broke down and destroyed herself.

He made himself not think of what might happen. Anything but that. Not Julia.

Jessica wouldn't be harmed. Phillip and Vicky would take good care of her and keep her safe and warm.

He felt with his mind for Jessica. He knew that she was now coming to meet him, obeying his command.

He vowed to himself that his control over Jessica would not last one second beyond what was necessary. It sickened him to see her that way. He knew that he had done that often in the past, had even relished it...

But that had been a long time ago.

Had it been, really? Had he truly left the madness behind? Or was it still lurking inside him, waiting for him to lower his guard?

He heard the footsteps approaching. It was her. But there were other footsteps.

This time Zeb was following her, wanting to catch the beast that had dared attack his wife..

He could feel Zeb's rage and anguish. He knew that he was the one responsible... but it was either that or let her destroy Julia.

Julia... think of Julia. What would happen to her... she would lose everything she cared for...

If he didn't do this, Julia would kill herself.

It wasn't hard to come behind Zeb noiselessly. He put his arm around the neck and squeezed it, until Zeb went limp.

Zeb would remain unconscious for a while. But it was better not to leave him alone, on the cold ground..

He probed with his mind. Was there somebody that he could summon to take care of Zeb? Not many men on his list...

But there was George. He had taken blood from him once, and the link, even if tenuous, was there. And Zeb would not find it suspicious if he was rescued by the sheriff.

Mentally, he called on George to come pick up Zeb, then went to Jessica, standing still under the moonlight.

Was she warm enough? She had thrown a coat over herself before leaving the house, and she had shoes on. But she had no stockings. He wrapped his own coat around her legs and lifted her in his arms, hoping that that was enough.

He stood like this, keeping watch over the unconscious Zeb, his only movement being to pat Jessica reassuringly as she somehow sensed that something had happened to her husband.

Then he knew that George was coming, and when he headlights cut the darkness, he knew that it was time to move on.

Mentally he gave George the last instructions on how to find Zeb, and went straight towards Phillip's house with Jessica.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Jessica King had disappeared.

Willie bit his knuckles hard. It was as he suspected from the start... He had wanted so much to be wrong.

It was Barnabas again.

It was clear. Losing Edmund had unhinged him. He had fallen back on his old ways.

And after Jessica, Louella... Louella and the child...

"Willie, are you sick?" Louella asked.

He shook his head "Lou... swear to me that you won't go out at night. Swear to me that you won't ever let Barnabas in here."

"Are you crazy? Not let Barnabas in here?'

"Please, baby, do as I say."

"You think that Barnabas would hurt me? Him? You think that of him, of all people?"

Willie buried his face in his hands. "Please, baby, please..."

* * *

"She seems to be doing all right." Vicky commented as she left Jessica's room.

"She will be all right. And so will Zeb." Phillip said.

"Because he said so?"

"Yes." Phillip furrowed his brow. "It is him that I am worried about."

"Barnabas?"

"Didn't you see the expression in his face? I saw that face before. In the truck, when he was being taken to Munsungan's firing squad."

"The firing squad?"

Phillip told her about it. How it came about, what had happened there.

"He was willing to die then. He had made his peace with everybody. He knew that his life was the price, and was willing to pay it. And now... Now it is the price again, and he's willing to pay it again. And this time he might not be reprieved."

* * *

"Hey, David! What's wrong with you?"

"Huh?" David turned around.

With shock the other student saw that David's eyes were blank.

"What's the matter with you?" the other boy pulled away "are you on pills or something?"

David shook his head, his eyes still blank.

They the boy saw the matches on the floor, all burned out and nowhere anything indicating what could have been burned, not even the odor of burned joints...

"What did you burn those matches for?"

"Huh?" David's eyes were becoming animated again"

"God! You are a pyromaniac!"

* * *

All he had to do now was wait. Wait for a breakthrough with Julia which might not come yet. Wait for Zeb to reach a conclusion and rush into Wyncliffe hollering for answers.

And remember Jessica's eyes.

That blind, mindless adoration, that living only for his touch... he knew it so well.

God forgive him, he had caused enough of it in the past! At firsts because he did not know better, but later deliberately..

And now... he tried to tell himself that it was just that he needed to lure Zeb. Still it weighed heavily on him.

He had thought that he had put it all behind him. And how, he found out that he had not.

Had he ever put it behind him? Was he really free of it?

The potential for harm was still there. He kept it checked, but should he ever lower his guar, the nightmare would return.

He had been made, panicking at first, then driven insane by the torture of the locked coffin from which Willie had released him. Just mad...

And what if his madness returned?

It could not.

It might. In spite of everything it might return. He remembered how he felt, how the world looked to him then. Everything was twisted and bent out of shape. _yet he thought it was the way the world should look._

If he went mad again, he'd never know it. Maybe he was mad already.

He thought of his father with bitterness. To spare himself the pain of seeing his son die by his hand, he had condemned his son to an interminable torture that had destroyed his sanity.

Julia had rescued him... But that had not been Joshua Collins' doing. No, what he had done since his release from the coffin, Willie's abuse, Maggie's madness, Dave's death, Julia's torment, that was what Joshua Collins had brought.

The rest, all he had now, all that he had achieved, all that he owed to Julia and to Willie. And whoever had believed in him.

"I have no father" he said. "I never did."

He tried to turn his thoughts away, but he couldn't. The dark fear in him was too strong, his anger too real. And then the other, more nameless fear. That he had never been released from his coffin. That he was still chained there, dreaming of Julia, of Willie... he had dreamed so often of release... and this could be just another dream...

Soon he would wake up and find himself chained in the coffin. Any moment now Willie, Julia, Carolyn, Vicky... all of them would go where dreams go when you wake up.

No, he took hold of himself. He shouldn't have those thoughts. It was all over. He was free now. He had made a new life for himself. There was nothing to those fancies of him.

Yet his hands trembled and he felt the black wave mount in him.

The worst part of it was having no one to share it with. No one to tell, not at this hour, at least. That was one of the hidden costs of his curse. Everybody deeply asleep when he needed them most.

"Am I good enough for you?" Dave asked him.

"Yes." Barnabas smile widely "I was never so glad to see you."

"It is hard, waiting for Zeb to make his move, isn't it?"

"Yes. And then I keep doubting that he'll ever come. I wonder if I make any sense at all."

"You still think it makes sense?"

"You know it does. I have a responsibility towards Julia."

"And a small price to pay for freedom. Because that's what you want. To be free of these doubts that are eating you up."

Barnabas nodded "You have no idea what it is like to live with the ache inside you. No, not just guilt. Much worse. Dave, I _was_ mad. As insane as... as any of Julia's patients, the ones who foam at the mouth, the ones that have to be kept in straightjackets. I know it, and I am afraid..."

"That you'll go mad again."

"Yes. And if it happened, I would not know it. I would never know it."

"So you test yourself against Zeb. Put him in the position I was in. They throw yourself at his mercy, knowing how easily you could kill him. Knowing that he won't be inclined to show you much mercy."

Barnabas nodded, a bit ashamed to admit it.

"That, and your gift for self-dramatization."

"Yes."

To the bitter end, too. I too liked to take chances, and sometimes they didn't pay up."

"I know that this may not pay up. I wonder if I really want it to pay up." he looked straight at Dave "you know what I mean."

"You are not ready to give me up."

Barnabas recited, as if it was a lesson in school "Julia will release you. George will, too. And when it happens I won't see you again."

"Not on this side of existence... and that's how it will be."

"But I lost too many people. First my entire family. Josette... And now I seem to be on a losing streak again. I had to watch Roxanne destroy herself... Iris left me. Julia rejects me. Willie is keeping his distance from me. Carolyn left with Edmund on a cruise... Dave I can't lose anyone else."

"You lost me years ago." Dave said, not unkindly.

"I know. But I didn't know then what I had lost. I know now."

"I warned you that asking certain questions could lead to heartbreak."

"But I asked them, anyway, and my heart is going to be broken."

"You will be able to get Julia again."

"Yes, I will. But it will never be the same.."

He was silent, lost in a deep mood of despair, a mood broken by Dave's chuckle.

"I should not have made you fall in love with me. But I could not resists. George chose you, and I respect his judgment. You are a bit old for what I like, but still..."

Barnabas shook his head.

"Don't kid yourself." Dave continued "If I could hold you in my arms, you would have given yourself to me."

"As George did?"

"As George did."

'How was it, with him?"

"I believe that you want more than sexual activity description."

Barnabas nodded, blushing only slightly at this. "He told me that he did not dare mourn for you openly. I can't imagine what it was like for him."

"I told you how it was with my boys. I used them and at the same time protected them and gave them what they most needed.. George... he was more vulnerable than the others. Or maybe it seemed so.. There was a bit of a hustler in my boys. They wanted what I could give them... But George..George loved me. I was his first great love. Maybe his only great love.. For a while I was his whole world."

"And then it shattered."

"I would have shattered it myself with a little more time. I had to. I had no right to keep them tied to me. And then I wanted variety. George was affectionate, gentle, trusting... his family life was far from happy and he turned to me, asking me to be a father to him. And in a way I was. I was a father to my boys. When they needed me I was there."

"I need you now. You said that you made me one of your boys."

"You don't need me now. I released you already. You have George. Be good to him. He's a good lover to have."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"I want answers, Julia!"

Zeb's voice carried out of Julia's office. Barnabas heard it, and something contracted in him.

He had expected this, made himself ready. But Julia was the one undergoing Zeb's rage.

Julia was looking at Zeb's fierce face, the secret about to burst out of her lips, but unable to break through.

"I told you everything that happened then" she said plaintively.

"Not everything. Loomis was railroaded for it. Patterson said that my uncle still had doubts. And then he died."

"It was a heart attack" Julia said lamely.

"We know better, don't we? We know how a heart attack can be simulated.."

The blood drained off Julia's face and she could not speak.

"And you know where Jessica is, too!" Zeb took Julia by the arms and shook her. "Tell me where she is!"

"I don't know!"

Zeb hit her "You do know!"

"No! No!"

Before he could hit her again, Barnabas burst in.

"What are you doing?" he caught Zeb and threw her away from her. "How dare you?"

"She killed Uncle Dave." Zeb hissed "and she knows where Jessica is."

Julia looked piteously up to Barnabas.

"She did nothing of the sort."

"She did!"

"You have no proof of that. Slapping her around will not change that." he put himself between Julia and Zeb. "I understand how worried you are about Jessica, but this is not the way."

"But don't you see? It is all connected. Maggie's kidnapping, Uncle Dave's death, and Jessica's disappearance."

"But this is not the way." Barnabas was silent, as if considering what to do next. "I am taking you back to Collinsport. We will talk at my place. Maybe we can think this thing through."

He led Zeb away and, as he left, whispered to Julia "Call Phillip. Tell him that everything is ready. He knows what to do."

"She belongs in a jail cell" Zeb grumbled as he led him away.

* * *

Beth Chavez...Beth Chavez...

Louella's hand closed on the locket, held it tightly, wishing its power to reach her again.

Quentin had been her mistake. But it was not too late. She could still have a future...

But as Beth Chavez, not as Louella Loomis. Not pregnant, not like this.

She willed herself to become Beth Chavez again, to make Willie disappear, to make the baby disappear...

But it had no effect..

* * *

Jessica tossed in her bed while Vicky watched.

"Julia called" he said. "she said to bring Jessica to the Old House. Barnabas will take it from there."

Vicky gave him a worried look.

"She will be all right, Barnabas assured me."

Vicky's expression did not change "I remember too well how it was when Maggie disappeared."

"This is not the same thing."

Vicky shook her head "You trust him that much?"

"I have reason to."

Vicky lowered her eyes "I suppose I have, too. But I keep thinking of Maggie. I was there. I knew Joe, and Sam and Dave Woodard. I know how much pain he caused them. I can't forget what it was like."

Phillip closed his eyes in pain "He's suffered enough. Don't torment him further. Specially " he added with a bitter smile "he can do a much better job of it than you ever could."

* * *

"Zeb, I know that you are angry. I know that you have reason to be. But have you considered that there might be extenuating circumstances?"

Zeb's eyes narrowed. "So you know something about it?"

"Julia's a dear friend of mine."

They were sitting in front of the fireplace in the Old House. Barnabas had offered Zeb some liquor which Zeb had refused.

"This does not answer my question. What do you know?"

Barnabas swallowed. "She could not betray the confidences of a patient."

"Her patient?"

"Yes. He was violent and unpredictable, and for certain reasons he could not be committed. She was making progress with him. But then something went wrong and your uncle died because of it."

"She should have called the police, then"

"That would have destroyed here patient's chances of a recovery. And he did make a recovery."

"She covered it up, you mean."

"It wasn't an easy decision for her to make."

"It was a clear choice. She made herself a party to murder by refusing to turn in this man. " Zeb paced the floor "What happened to him, anyway?"

"He recovered and went on to lead what many, yourself included, would call a socially useful life."

"He evidently didn't recover much. Where is Jessica?"

"Ah, Jessica" Barnabas' smile was sad. Now they had come to the instant he had prepared for and that he dreaded "Do you have any theories about those wounds in her throat?"

Zeb growled "All right, you can laugh at me if you want, when I say that if I didn't know better I'd think that there was a vampire involved."

"What if I told you that you are right? That Julia's patient was a vampire? A real one?"

Zeb stared at him. "That's crazy".

"But if it was true?"

"Then she belongs in one of her own padded cells."

Well, that was it. "Jessica, come here." he called softly.

"Jessica?" Zeb asked, not sure that he had heard well.

Jessica walked into the room, still in deep trance. With her eyes focused, she ignored Zeb and moved towards Barnabas.

"You? You had her?"

Barnabas put his arms around her and slowly bared his teeth so that Zeb could have no doubt as to what had happened. he waited for Zeb to react.

And he did. He jumped to Barnabas's side and began beating on him. "Don't touch her!" he yelled. "It was you! You did it!"

Barnabas turned to him, and after a short and furious scuffle subdued him. He left him bound and gagged on the sofa and stepped back.

"You might as well know the rest of it" Barnabas knew that the adrenalin rush made him look fiercer that he meant to be "Yes, I was Julia's patient. I did kill your uncle. And now I have the problem of what to do with you."

The adrenalin was still strong in Zeb. Not until it had subsided would Zeb begin to be afraid. And he needed Zeb's fear for what he had to do.

"I have to make sure of certain things before I deal with you." he said conversationally to Zeb "but I will come back." he turned to Jessica "you just keep an eye on him."

Jessica nodded. Barnabas bent over her and took a little blood from her. Not much, just enough for Zeb to see.

He then checked Zeb's bindings. Maybe a little too tight. But he could not relieve him without raising suspicions. At least he put him in a more comfortable position before he went out of the room.

He left them, Jessica still entranced, keeping watch over Zeb, and went up the stairs.

He didn't have much time. Only a few hours and he might be dead. His body would be in one of the caves, waiting for the tide to wash it away, and for the sun to destroy it.

He would never hold Willie's child in his arms...

He controlled himself. He had made his choice and he had to live up to it.

But why now? Why this way?

It was too late to ask these questions. With Zeb hogtied downstairs, it could only end two ways. It would not end with Zeb's death.

He took pen and paper and wrote.

Dearest Julia:

If you read this, you'll know that I miscalculated and that Zeb killed me. He will not touch you. I'll make sure that he believes that I held over you the same power he saw me hold over Jessica. Don't disabuse him, for your own sake.

Julia, I am willing to die to save you. Don't make it that I die for nothing. Let me pay some of good you have done me, and some of the harm I have done you. It is a small way, but I can't offer you no more.

Barnabas

He closed the letter and stood a while with his eyes closed.. Somehow it seemed clumsy...

Yet what else could he say to the woman who had given him a new life and whom he had wounded so grievously?

Slowly he got up, put the letter away, passed Buffy's room, where she looked at him with questioning eyes but dared not ask him what he was doing.

"It will be all right, Buffy. Trust me."

He then went down to see Zeb..

Zeb looked haggard and passive. As he had expected, the adrenalin had worn off and he hopelessness of his situation had sunk in. He was now just trying to hold on to his dignity as the end approached.

It was hard now for both of them. But while Barnabas understood Zeb's anguish, Zeb had no inkling of Barnabas'

"It would be better if we did not make this too long" Barnabas said softly, knowing that Zeb could not answer He went to the desk and took out a gun. He had gotten silver bullets for it when he had decided what he would do. Knowing that he could no longer delay any longer, he went to Zeb.

"Your uncle was a brave man." he said. "I think that you are one, too. You'd rather walk than be carried."

Zeb was ghastly pale but he managed to nod firmly

"I thought so" Barnabas untied Zeb's feet and waited until Zeb was able to stand by himself.

He motioned to Jessica who moved next to him.

Zeb shook his head, trying to protest through his gag.

"She's coming with us" Barnabas said softly "For what my word is worth, she won't be harmed. I need her so that you'll behave."

Barnabas took Zeb's arm. Zeb shivered at the touch, but let himself be guided, sure now that Jessica would suffer for any attempt at rebellion.

And anyway,. if he gave any trouble, Barnabas would just retie his feet and carry him like a potato sack.

The full bitterness of his impotence hit him. He was grateful that the gag prevented him from begging.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

He managed to keep on walking, his stride steady, his head erect. Barnabas was silent, wondering if he would have enough courage to go through with his plan. If he would not be tempted to just kill Zeb and Jessica.

He was afraid he might. More afraid than of the other...

And Jessica was lost in the fog of her mind. She somehow understood that something terrible was about to happen and shivered under the blanket that Barnabas had thrown over her.

They went down to the caves, Zeb finding the descent difficult because of his bound hands. Angrily he wondered why didn't Barnabas just kill him there and spare him this.

They finally reached the place Barnabas had chosen. He pushed Zeb, without brutality, to make him sit down, then turned to Jessica and gave the gun to her.

"Shoot him" he ordered her.

She took the gun and turned towards Zeb.

Zeb tried to get up, to scream, as he saw with horror how Jessica, empty eyed, lifted the gun towards him and pulled the trigger.

The gun clicked empty.

"That is enough, Jessica" Barnabas took the gun from her.

Cold sweat formed on Zeb's body, and he was barely aware of what Barnabas was now doing.

"Go to sleep, Jessica." he was speaking softly to her now. "When you wake up you won't remember me anymore. You won't hear my calls, you won't want to answer them. Just forget."

Jessica slumped on the floor. Barnabas gathered her in his arms, wrapped her more tightly on the blanket and laid her down.

He then turned to the uncomprehending Zeb and took the gag off.

"Why did you do that?' Zeb asked.

"I had to show you how Julia had no choice."

"What difference will it make, since you are going to kill us?"

"I did not bring you here to kill you."

"What for, then?"

"To make it possible for you to kill me, if that's what you want." he put the bullets in the gun, freed Zeb's hands and gave him the gun.

"It has silver bullets. One of them through the heart will do it. Don't worry, even if the body is found, they will call it suicide. They are willing to. Just one word of warning. I have kept Representative Evans away from you. But if you go after Julia when I am not around to protect you, Maggie will deep-six you. She does not want anyone digging into that old story."

Zeb held the gun, and looked at it stupidly.

"What about Jessica?" He had questions. Questions that he wanted answered more than to see Barnabas dead.

"I have done little harm to her. And by tomorrow, whatever you do with me, she will be just as before I attacked her. I never had designs on her. She was bait. And I kidnapped her because I did not want her going out at night in the cold in just her slippers. She was well cared for."

"Who held her?'

"Someone who could not resist me, the way Jessica couldn't"

Zeb looked at the gun again. He wondered if it would suddenly turn to smoke.

"You want me to kill you?"

"I don't. But that seems the only way to give you satisfaction and saving Julia. Shoot me and accept the cover-up."

"Why did you kill my uncle?"

"Because he found out about me. I was afraid and alone then. I trusted no one, and no one trusted me. Alone against the world, with Julia stuck in the middle. I was too hurt and angry to know any better."

"And you are... what I saw you do to Jessica?"

"There is no harm in it. I know it now. None of my... sources suffer from it, so don't think that you are ridding the community from some threat. If you kill me now, it will be for your own satisfaction, no more, no less.

Zeb was silent, still not understanding the situation.

"Please, do not wait me much... and maybe a little ceremony is in order..."

He blindfolded himself "Is this a good angle for you to shoot, or would you rather I went down to my knees?"

"As you wish."

Barnabas knelt down his hands open by his side. "I guess this is it. Please, don't make me wait too long."

Zeb lifted the gun.

Then he lowered it.

"I can't shoot someone who won't defend himself"

"Do it. At least you will spare me the Reagan administration."

Zeb looked at him in astonishment.

"You are a Democrat?"

"Any law against it?"

Zeb shook, his head "I can't shoot a fellow Democrat. We need all the votes we can get in the coming years."

"If you don't do it, can I trust you not to turn on Julia? If you don't take your pound of flesh from me, will you take it from her? Because you do want it, in one way or another."

Barnabas was right, Zeb was still angry, still thirsting for revenge. But he could not take it on Barnabas as he was now, blindfolded, kneeling, meekly accepting his fate...

He could never shoot him like this. And yet he was to angry to let him walk out.

"I can't kill you." he confessed " but I can't forgive you just like that, either."

"Do what you must."

Zeb bit his lip. He had to do something...

He hit Barnabas across the face with his gun. And again.

"Wait!" Barnabas shouted "Put the safety catch on first!"

Zeb did, and aware of how strange it all was, kept pistol whipping Barnabas for a while.

* * *

David wondered why he had come. He had thought that a party would somehow help him to forget his dreams and his obsession with matches.

But it did not. The woman who was dodging him was here too. He could feel her presence.

Would nothing get rid of her? Would he ever find out what she wanted, what she was?

A number of the others had huddled together and a characteristic odor reached nostrils.

They were smoking pot... Just what he needed. As if he did not have enough trouble already...

But she seemed somehow to weaken...

He moved towards them, accepted a joint, and puffed at it.

And as the smoke filled his mouth he felt himself loosen, felt the strange emptiness of freedom...

She was gone... for the first time she was gone.

* * *

"Are you all right?" Zeb asked him, a bit stupidly.

"Yes. I am." His face was puffed and sore, but no great harm was done.

"I shouldn't have hit you so hard."

"You did what you had to do. Now, you and Jessica get back in bed. I'll be on my way."

He left them and returned home. His face hurt, yes, even if he did not insist on touching it. But it was worth it.

Zeb had not killed him. And he would not touch Julia. He believed now that Julia had been as helpless as Jessica.

He touched his face again. It was over. The pain was the last of it.

When he reached his home, he found Sandy waiting for him.

"What happened to you?" Sandy asked, shocked "Your face..."

Barnabas shrugged "I cut myself shaving. You know how hard it is when you can't use a mirror."

She went to him and touched his face "Does it hurt?"

"Not if you leave it alone." He knew that she needed something out of him and he was somehow impatient. Any other day would be different, but now the wanted the time for himself.

"Chris asked me to live with him." she began, twisting the ends of her belt.

"Well, since it will a while until his divorce from Sabrina becomes final, I would say that it makes sense."

"I...I wouldn't know."

Barnabas shrugged "Or course, if you have moral objections to the arrangement..."

"It is not that... You don't mind at all?"

"No. Why should I.?"

"I... I thought..."

"Sandy, whatever you do, you have my blessing. Now, if you don't mind. I had a rough time, and I need to be alone."

She was hurt and disappointed. He knew that he should worry about it, that sooner or later he would regret sending her away, but now he had to do it.

He moved t the fire... It was good to be home again...


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It was past noon when Zeb woke up. He looked up dazedly, towards Jessica.

"It is about time you woke up, you lazybones What's your excuse this time?

He stared at her, somewhat numbly "Yu mean you don't know?"

"Know what?"

"What happened last night. How you disappeared. How Barnabas Collins held you...

"Barnabas Collins? What does he have to do with this?

"Everything! He attacked you, drank your blood, and kidnapped you. He had you try to shoot me."

Jessica stared at him. "What's gotten into you? You into something?"

Zeb sighed. Yes, Barnabas had promised to release Jessica, why did he have to do such a good job of it?

"All right. I'll show you what I mean."

* * *

"He...he seems dead." Jessica gulped.

"Until dusk, only." Zeb reassured her "Then he'll get up and be about."

Buffy stood by the door of the secret room. "Well, have you seen enough? I want to close this door. I should not even have allowed you to come here."

"You tell her." Zeb urged her.

"Tell her what?" Buffy looked at him a bit hostilely.

"What happened last night. How she was in a trance and I was hogtied here."

"All right. I'll tell her. But Barnabas did not mean any harm to either of you."

"I know that. I am just having trouble explaining to her that this ever happened."

"All right." Buffy relented "You come out of there and I'll tell you wall I know about him."

* * *

Julia waited. she had not heard from either Zeb or Barnabas. What had happened between them? Would Zeb come back and finish what he had started? Had Barnabas been able to stop him? And how? He had said that he would not harm Zeb, but had he been telling the truth? He had lied to her before, had he not?

And if he had killed Zeb, what would she do?

Why couldn't she have let go of it, as Barnabas had asked her to? She had not wanted to make it easy on herself... she had not wanted to make it easy on Barnabas either. They both had to be punished and she knew the right way to do it. Barnabas would pay for it...

And now.. now... what had she brought about? Zeb's death? Or Barnabas'?

* * *

Jessica had finally accepted his explanations. She was now convinced that indeed Barnabas was what her husband said she was, and that he had done all those things. But she could not remember by herself any of it.

"He made you forget" Zeb explained "made sure to break the link between you two."

Jessica shook her head "All right, it sounds crazy, but I'll have to admit that it is true." she laughed a bit "No wonder that he was so insistent that he had no VD."

"Yes. That was one thing he could be sure he didn't have."

She then turned away to tend to the business that ahd been neglected during her disappearnce, leaving him alone.

But not for long, for a familiar figure appeared before him.

"Uncle Dave!" Zeb said "Is that you?"

"Yes. it is me." Dave smiled, a bit melancholy "you are not a kid anymore, it seems."

"It's been a long time since..." he looked away. "I could not do it. Not while he was helpless. Not that way."

"Not to a fellow Democrat, anyway." Dave chuckled.

Zeb looked down "I am sorry if I failed you. I thought that the pistol whipping should be enough."

"Are you proud of it?" Dave's voice was hard "of the fact that you kept hitting him even as he had fallen on the ground?"

"No. I am not" Zeb confessed "It was... it was not me... it was something I could not stop."

"Good. I would not want to be the kind of person who gets pleasure out of something like that. But don't feel too badly about it. He's a practicing psychologist and he knows certain tricks of the trade. He manipulated you quite expertly."

"I can't hate him, either."

"It is all right. No, Zeb, if I wanted revenge I would have taken it already. There were plenty of opportunities. I want something else from you."

"What do you want?"

"It is time for me to say proper goodbyes, and I'll need your help for that. Later tonight, we'll go to see Julia. We will give them time to talk and then we'll go meet them. " he smiled sadly "Poor Julia. I was very cruel to her, you know."

"Why? What did you do to her?"

"Leave her alone."

* * *

Julia touched Barnabas' swollen face "Zeb did this to you?" she asked incredulously.

"Don't be too hard on him. I pushed him to it. And he could have easily shot me."

He told her of the events of the last night, Julia becoming paler as he narrated them

"You did this for me?" she asked, trying to keep her voice level, trying to keep her hands from shaking.

"I owed it to you."

She touched his face again, the acid remark she was ready to say, dying on her lips..

She was softening. But not enough.

"You still want me to suffer for it, don't you?" he said gently.

"No." she lied.

"You do. You need to punish me. You won't be free of it until you do." Calmly he put the whip over the desk and removed his coat and tie.

"What are you doing?:" Julia asked astonished.

"The whip was once used in slave ships" he removed his shirt and undershirt and then turned around so that his bare back was in front of her. "use it on me."

"You are crazy" she said. "I cannot do that."

But her hand had already closed on the handle.

"Do it, Julia. For your own sake."

She held the whip, running her fingers over the long lash, wondering if she would dare...

"It will hurt a lot less than watching you tear yourself inside." he insisted.

She hit him with the whip Barnabas bit his lips to keep from screaming... if only his face did not hurt as much, too...

She kept hitting him, feeling a strong pleasure in delivering the blows, in seeing the damage to the skin. She waited for him to scream.

He did not, but the whimpers that escaped him were enough. She dropped the whip, as the tears began rolling off her cheeks.

He turned around and held her while she wept. It was over now... Truly over.

"It is all right, Julia. It is all right now."

She sobbed uncontrollably, s he had never heard her do before. He kissed her forehead and cheeks, caressed her hair and wept with her.

"My poor Julia, what have I done to you?"

She held to him, her hands on his lacerated back and swollen face. "It is all right." she answered.

Finally he was able to let go of her.

"Hello, Julia."

Dave was there. Instinctively Barnabas stepped between him and Julia. "Please, don't hurt her."

"I am not going to. Just leave the two of us alone.

Barnabas hesitate. "She's... she's still shaken."

"I know that. Don't be such a mother hen. She will be all right. Get out of the room."

Barnabas moved to the door, not too eagerly.

"And get yourself decent before you go out."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

He waited outside, worried sick as to what Dave was doing to Julia. He knew that no malice was meant, that it was something that had to happen... still Julia was so vulnerable...

Inside, Julia was done crying. She was now talking to an old friend and finding no pain in doing so.

"So you kept up your research."

'There's been a log going on. Despite its drawbacks, the B.F. Skinner school has its uses."

"I don't mean about that. It is about your friend."

"I got nowhere. I could not cure him as I wanted. His system is now immune to my treatment. It is a pity."

"Yes, in a way it is a pity. But in another it does not matter. You did a good job on him."

"No, I didn't"

"Julia the character I ran into could not, by any stretch of the imagination be called a lovely individual. Certainly not anyone I would want in George's bed."

"Oh.." Julia "that"

"Julia, I do want him to end up in George's bed. If you can give a little push there I'd appreciate it. You don't have to do it if you do not want... he's going to end up there anyway. I set it up that way. "

"You did?"

He smiled, good humouredly " I guess that with all that guilt eating you up you forgot what a manipulative bastard I can be when I want to.."

"And you set him up?"

"He gave me a mile wide opening. I took it and here we are. As I said, Julia, you don't have to help if you do not want to."

"But I guess I'll end up doing it... because I forgot what a manipulative bastard you can be..."

Dave shrugged. "But I mean well. And I wish you well, no matter what you decide."

* * *

Barnabas waited, biting his knuckles. For how long would he have to wait? What was happening to Julia?

He tried to concentrate on the pain of his face and back to get his mind off his worry, but could not manage it.

He had done all he could for Julia. It was out of his hands, now. And that was the worst. To have to wait impotently, biting his knuckles and fearing the worst.

He saw George and Zeb coming towards him.

"Uncle Dave told me to be here. And to call it Sheriff Brant."

Barnabas greeted them with a shake of his head, too consumed with worry to talk.

George looked at Barnabas with curiosity. "Your face..."

"It does not matter." Barnabas said "let's say I ran into a door."

"A door, eh?" he looked briefly at Zeb "It must have been a special kind of door."

"It was."

"See what your martyr complex gets you?"

Barnabas smiled apologetically, glad that George could not see his back.

"How's Jessica?" he asked Zeb "No bad side effects?"

"None, except that she would not believe me when I told her of what happened. I had to show you to her... as you are in the daytime."

"Yes. Buffy told me about it."

"You don't mind?"

"As long as all you did was look, I don't see why I should. But do not make a habit of it. I like my privacy."

The door opened and Julia called them "You can come in, all of you."

They sat together, knowing what would come now. Barnabas and George looked at each other, each of them understanding the other's hurt.

"It is time to say goodbye " Dave said solemnly "I have lingered here long enough, and maybe some of you have been hurt by it."

He should talk, George thought, looking at Barnabas. I am hurting now, but it is to be expected. But Barnabas... Dave made Barnabas know him, care for him, and now he's going to cut him off for good. Dave could be a real bastard when he wanted to.

"There are some things of mine that I never got around to giving. You have them?" he asked Zeb.

"Yes. They are here."

"Good. It is about time I took care of this unfinished business" he turned to George "We were friends. I did you much good, and also much harm. Somehow you managed to hold on only to that good. You were a boy then. But you are a man. A fine man, and I am proud of you." he pointed to the smaller package that Zeb had set down. "that one is for you."

George opened it. "You want me to have these?"

"Yes, the cufflinks. I know that you always admired them. They are yours now."

While George held the black onyx cufflinks in his hand, Dave turned to Julia. "the other package is for you."

Julia opened it. "No, Dave! Not this book!"

"Why? You don't like it?"

"I do.,.. I always wanted it... but I don't deserve it."

"True. But I want you to have it, anyway."

Julia sobbed.

"This is your doing" Dave turned accusingly at Barnabas. "She's been around you too long and now she cries at the drop of a hat, just like you do. You have ruined the Iron Lady. Oh, well, it is too late to do anything about it."

Barnabas smiled apologetically.

"I have something for you too. But it is not something that can be put in a package... Zeb will have to help me with it."

Zeb nodded. Dave moved towards him, slid into him, merged with him. Zeb closed his eyes, shuddered for a couple of seconds, and when he opened his eyes again, they were Dave's eyes.

"You wanted this for a long time." Zeb/Dave said.

Indeed he had. Tears forming in his eyes, Barnabas got up and put his arms around him.

"This is what you wanted, wasn't it?"

Barnabas nodded. He held him closer, as tightly as he could "I am going to miss you." he confessed.

"Indeed you will, you sentimental fool."

They stood like this for a while, Barnabas crying silently.

"You better give him sick leave, Julia" Dave said, dryly "in the state he's in, he won't be of any use to your for at least two weeks. All, right. It is time that I returned to Zeb what is his."

They parted. Zeb's eyes closed, he shook again, and then it was Zeb again, with Dave at his side.

"You were a good boy, Zeb." Dave said softly "It is a pity we could not have been closer. I would have liked very much to have had a son... For a while you were that, and I am glad of it."

Zeb nodded, a slight smile on his face.

"Take care of yourselves" Dave said again "And goodbye."

He moved to the center of the room, seemed to glow, to expand...

And he vanished.

* * *

What is with David's obsession with fire? How about Louella's being pressured by her own and Willie's insecurities? Will Buffy's disatisfaction ease, or will it have more serious consequences? How about Frank's?

Stay tuned.


End file.
